Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM) Shares Acquired by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,825,523 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,189 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 15.21% of Piedmont Office Realty Trust worth $133,849,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PDM. Private Management Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 4,616,526 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,824,000 after buying an additional 148,280 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,412,069 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $24,260,000 after purchasing an additional 209,963 shares in the last quarter. Wilsey Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC grew its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,449,081 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,303,000 after purchasing an additional 170,823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $9,642,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 29th.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust stock opened at $7.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $4.91 and a 52 week high of $8.05. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $7.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $6.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $914.32 million, a P/E ratio of -12.10 and a beta of 1.21.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.61). Piedmont Office Realty Trust had a negative net margin of 12.90% and a negative return on equity of 4.29%. The company had revenue of $144.54 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $143.41 million. Research analysts forecast that Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.5 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, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th were issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.78%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 23rd. Piedmont Office Realty Trust’s payout ratio is currently -81.97%.

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.