Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 186,156 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 8,702 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned 0.15% of Piedmont Office Realty Trust worth $1,324,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Private Management Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 25.7% in the third quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 4,468,246 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,112,000 after buying an additional 913,747 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,202,106 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,996,000 after purchasing an additional 204,467 shares in the last quarter. Wilsey Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Wilsey Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,930,974 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,729,000 after purchasing an additional 113,641 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 86.6% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 1,695,612 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,529,000 after purchasing an additional 786,699 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 67.4% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,172,355 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,589,000 after purchasing an additional 471,945 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.48% of the company’s stock.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Trading Down 2.3 %

Piedmont Office Realty Trust stock opened at $6.73 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $833.78 million, a PE ratio of -16.82 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $6.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.46. Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $4.91 and a 52 week high of $8.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.65). The company had revenue of $145.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $146.37 million. Piedmont Office Realty Trust had a negative return on equity of 2.72% and a negative net margin of 8.38%. Equities research analysts predict that Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.43%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. Piedmont Office Realty Trust’s payout ratio is -125.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com cut Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Profile

Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc (also referred to herein as "Piedmont" or the "Company") (NYSE: PDM) is an owner, manager, developer, redeveloper and operator of high-quality, Class A office properties located primarily in major U.S. Sunbelt markets. The Company is a fully-integrated, self-managed real estate investment trust ("REIT") with local management offices in each of its markets and is investment-grade rated by Standard & Poor's and Moody's.