Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM) by 9.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 81,890 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 6,778 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Piedmont Office Realty Trust were worth $594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,412,069 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $24,260,000 after buying an additional 209,963 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 97,299 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $692,000 after purchasing an additional 10,228 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 109.3% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 580,059 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,124,000 after purchasing an additional 302,859 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 56.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 36,980 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 13,285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inceptionr LLC bought a new position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $98,000. 84.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Trading Up 2.7 %

Piedmont Office Realty Trust stock opened at $9.92 on Friday. Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $4.91 and a 1 year high of $9.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $8.82 and its 200-day moving average is $7.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a current ratio of 2.40. The company has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.26 and a beta of 1.22.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.08) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.45). Piedmont Office Realty Trust had a negative return on equity of 4.84% and a negative net margin of 14.24%. The business had revenue of $143.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $141.25 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.04%. Piedmont Office Realty Trust’s payout ratio is currently -81.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PDM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $11.00 price target (up from $10.00) on shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, August 14th.

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.