Baird Financial Group Inc. Has $2.78 Million Stock Holdings in W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC)

Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC - Free Report) by 234.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,003 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 35,761 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in W. P. Carey were worth $2,779,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WPC. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in W. P. Carey by 20.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 165,184 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $9,898,000 after acquiring an additional 28,022 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of W. P. Carey by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 16,335 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,587 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of W. P. Carey by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 146,790 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $7,997,000 after purchasing an additional 1,402 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC bought a new position in shares of W. P. Carey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,418,000. Finally, Adams Asset Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of W. P. Carey by 38.4% in the fourth quarter. Adams Asset Advisors LLC now owns 59,666 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,251,000 after purchasing an additional 16,540 shares during the period. 73.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WPC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of W. P. Carey from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of W. P. Carey from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of W. P. Carey from $410.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of W. P. Carey in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of W. P. Carey from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $60.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $108.50.

W. P. Carey Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of WPC stock opened at $61.79 on Monday. W. P. Carey Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.91 and a 1 year high of $66.10. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $61.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.03). W. P. Carey had a net margin of 29.11% and a return on equity of 5.37%. The business had revenue of $407.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $412.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that W. P. Carey Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.89 dividend. This is a boost from W. P. Carey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.76%. W. P. Carey's dividend payout ratio is currently 183.51%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WPC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.