AlphaQuest LLC Increases Position in COPT Defense Properties $CDP

AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) by 2,219.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 116,351 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 111,334 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in COPT Defense Properties were worth $3,381,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CDP. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 7,241,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,719,000 after purchasing an additional 406,617 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 1.5% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,101,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,553,000 after buying an additional 45,375 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of COPT Defense Properties by 5.4% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,577,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,075,000 after buying an additional 131,287 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in COPT Defense Properties by 2.5% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 2,194,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,517,000 after acquiring an additional 52,981 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in COPT Defense Properties by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,472,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,393,000 after acquiring an additional 551,863 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CDP. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of COPT Defense Properties from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on COPT Defense Properties from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on COPT Defense Properties from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. New Street Research set a $33.00 price target on COPT Defense Properties in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of COPT Defense Properties in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.00.

COPT Defense Properties Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE CDP opened at $30.19 on Friday. COPT Defense Properties has a 12-month low of $23.92 and a 12-month high of $31.24. The company has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.70 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.94.

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $188.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.63 million. COPT Defense Properties had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 19.99%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that COPT Defense Properties will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

COPT Defense Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.305 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.22 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. COPT Defense Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 91.73%.

COPT Defense Properties Company Profile

COPT Defense Properties (NYSE: CDP) is a real estate investment trust organized to own, lease and manage healthcare and life science facilities serving the United States federal government, with a particular focus on Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs tenants. The company was formed in 2016 through a spin-off from Corporate Office Properties Trust, enabling it to concentrate exclusively on medical office buildings and specialized research facilities situated on or near military and federal research campuses.

The company’s portfolio comprises purpose-built, Class A medical office and outpatient specialty clinics, as well as life science laboratories.