Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 32,480 Shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM) by 45.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 38,221 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 32,480 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Piedmont Office Realty Trust were worth $277,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 38.3% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,654 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 1,288 shares in the last quarter. Adero Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Piedmont Office Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $72,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. acquired a new stake in Piedmont Office Realty Trust in the first quarter valued at approximately $73,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust in the first quarter worth $81,000. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 18.8% during the first quarter. Scharf Investments LLC now owns 15,658 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 2,475 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 1.3 %

Shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust stock opened at $9.90 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $7.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.23 and a beta of 1.22. Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $4.91 and a 12-month high of $10.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

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

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd will be given a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.05%. Piedmont Office Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently -81.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Company 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.