Vanguard Group Inc. Cuts Stake in Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM)

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its holdings in Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,309,511 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 71,893 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.16% of Piedmont Office Realty Trust worth $176,682,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 51.3% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 4,916 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 1,666 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 25.4% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 6,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 1,216 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. bought a new stake in Piedmont Office Realty Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $95,000. Arkadios Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $105,000. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust in the 4th quarter worth $106,000. 84.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Trading Down 3.4 %

Piedmont Office Realty Trust stock opened at $6.68 on Monday. Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $6.27 and a one year high of $11.12. The stock has a market cap of $831.29 million, a PE ratio of -10.61 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a current ratio of 2.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $7.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.86.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37. Piedmont Office Realty Trust had a negative net margin of 13.86% and a negative return on equity of 4.82%. The company had revenue of $143.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $142.16 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.48%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Piedmont Office Realty Trust’s payout ratio is -79.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PDM shares. Baird R W downgraded Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 17th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $10.00 price objective (down previously from $11.00) on shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 24th.

About Piedmont Office Realty Trust

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.