Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes Position in W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 577,138 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $31,442,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.26% of W. P. Carey at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. RFG Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W. P. Carey by 91.7% in the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,373 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 3,049 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in W. P. Carey by 7.0% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 31,784 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,980,000 after acquiring an additional 2,075 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of W. P. Carey by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 56,085 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,056,000 after acquiring an additional 8,197 shares during the last quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC bought a new position in W. P. Carey in the 4th quarter worth about $1,942,000. Finally, Diversified Trust Co purchased a new position in W. P. Carey during the 4th quarter valued at about $534,000. 73.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. P. Carey Price Performance

Shares of W. P. Carey stock traded up $0.90 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $62.18. 771,315 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,182,416. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. W. P. Carey Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.91 and a 52 week high of $66.10. The firm has a market cap of $13.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.75, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.09.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.89 dividend. This is an increase from W. P. Carey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. W. P. Carey's dividend payout ratio is 170.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets upgraded W. P. Carey from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of W. P. Carey from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on W. P. Carey from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on W. P. Carey from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on W. P. Carey from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, W. P. Carey currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $63.75.

About W. P. Carey

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.