46,934 Shares in W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC Purchased by Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund bought 46,934 shares of W.P. Carey in the fourth quarter, a stake valued at about $3.0 million.
• Institutional investors remain heavily involved in the REIT, with funds like Invesco, Norges Bank and Wellington Management also making large additions; overall, institutions own 73.73% of W.P. Carey’s stock.
• W.P. Carey reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and also raised its dividend to $0.93 per share, implying a 5.0% annualized yield.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund purchased a new position in W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 46,934 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $3,021,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WPC. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in W.P. Carey by 416.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,892,462 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $263,014,000 after acquiring an additional 3,139,266 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in W.P. Carey in the fourth quarter worth about $184,035,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in W.P. Carey by 1,183.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,130,402 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $76,381,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042,334 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in W.P. Carey by 2,712.0% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 771,534 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $48,128,000 after acquiring an additional 744,097 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in W.P. Carey by 331.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 861,430 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $58,207,000 after acquiring an additional 661,572 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of W.P. Carey from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Evercore set a $74.00 price objective on shares of W.P. Carey in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of W.P. Carey from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of W.P. Carey from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of W.P. Carey from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $76.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $76.90.

W.P. Carey Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE WPC opened at $73.98 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $16.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.62, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.76. W.P. Carey Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.09 and a 1 year high of $75.69. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.15.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.69. W.P. Carey had a net margin of 29.35% and a return on equity of 6.29%. The business had revenue of $454.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $430.64 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. W.P. Carey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.160-5.260 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that W.P. Carey Inc. will post 5.02 earnings per share for the current year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This is a boost from W.P. Carey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. W.P. Carey's dividend payout ratio is presently 158.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other W.P. Carey news, CAO Brian H. Zander sold 433 shares of W.P. Carey stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $32,042.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 13,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,027,268. The trade was a 3.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

W.P. Carey Profile

W. P. Carey Inc is a diversified net-lease real estate investment trust specializing in single-tenant commercial properties. The company structures sale-leaseback and build-to-suit transactions to provide long-term net lease financing across a variety of asset classes, including industrial facilities, office buildings, retail centers and self-storage facilities. By employing triple net leases, W. P. Carey transfers property operating expenses, taxes and maintenance responsibility to tenants, creating a stable, predictable income stream for investors.

Founded in 1973 by William Polk Carey, the firm has expanded organically and through strategic mergers and acquisitions.

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