W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) Position Reduced by Panagora Asset Management Inc.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. trimmed its stake in W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC - Free Report) by 60.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,990 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 9,218 shares during the quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in W. P. Carey were worth $330,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WPC. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its position in W. P. Carey by 91.9% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 11,290,841 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $731,800,000 after buying an additional 5,407,289 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of W. P. Carey during the fourth quarter worth $157,107,000. Equity Investment Corp acquired a new position in shares of W. P. Carey during the first quarter worth $59,802,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of W. P. Carey by 4,716.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 802,426 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $52,005,000 after purchasing an additional 785,766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of W. P. Carey by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,784,040 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,995,114,000 after purchasing an additional 657,188 shares in the last quarter. 73.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W. P. Carey news, Director Mark A. Alexander purchased 3,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $55.87 per share, with a total value of $195,545.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 38,124 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,129,987.88. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.08% of the company's stock.

W. P. Carey Stock Performance

Shares of W. P. Carey stock traded up $0.15 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $60.55. 710,366 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,255,816. The stock's fifty day moving average is $57.74 and its 200 day moving average is $56.87. The stock has a market cap of $13.25 billion, a PE ratio of 22.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 1.93. W. P. Carey Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.36 and a 12 month high of $67.40.

W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.12 by ($0.47). The firm had revenue of $389.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $381.39 million. W. P. Carey had a return on equity of 6.50% and a net margin of 34.83%. The firm's revenue was down 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that W. P. Carey Inc. will post 4.53 EPS for the current year.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th were issued a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.75%. This is an increase from W. P. Carey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. W. P. Carey's dividend payout ratio is presently 132.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of W. P. Carey from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of W. P. Carey from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of W. P. Carey in a report on Friday, June 21st. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of W. P. Carey from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of W. P. Carey from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.00.

W. P. Carey Profile

W. P. Carey ranks among the largest net lease REITs with a well-diversified portfolio of high-quality, operationally critical commercial real estate, which includes 1,424 net lease properties covering approximately 173 million square feet and a portfolio of 89 self-storage operating properties as of December 31, 2023.