Vestcor Inc Makes New $1.02 Million Investment in Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM)

Vestcor Inc acquired a new position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 111,514 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,020,000. Vestcor Inc owned 0.09% of Piedmont Office Realty Trust as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 88.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 237,407 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,398,000 after acquiring an additional 111,596 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 45.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,534,770 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,501,000 after acquiring an additional 478,560 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 72.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 148,046 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,519,000 after acquiring an additional 62,233 shares during the period. Choreo LLC raised its position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 54,024 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $484,000 after acquiring an additional 2,078 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 47.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,069,508 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,802,000 after acquiring an additional 344,694 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PDM has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $10.00 target price (down previously from $11.00) on shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Baird R W cut shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut 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.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE PDM opened at $7.13 on Friday. Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $6.13 and a 12-month high of $11.12. The stock has a market cap of $886.70 million, a PE ratio of -11.32 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The company has a 50-day moving average of $8.02 and a 200 day moving average of $9.12.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.01%. Piedmont Office Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently -79.37%.

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.