Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension Acquires New Position in W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC

Key Points

• Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension opened a new position in W.P. Carey during the fourth quarter, buying 357,610 shares worth about $23.0 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high, with hedge funds and other institutions holding about 73.73% of W.P. Carey’s stock; several large investors also increased their stakes recently.
• W.P. Carey reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.30 topping estimates and revenue rising 11.2% year over year, while also raising its quarterly dividend to $0.93 per share.

Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension acquired a new stake in W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 357,610 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $23,016,000. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension owned approximately 0.16% of W.P. Carey as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in W.P. Carey by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,329,159 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $844,065,000 after acquiring an additional 119,817 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in W.P. Carey by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,213,013 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $271,150,000 after acquiring an additional 441,526 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in W.P. Carey by 416.8% during the 3rd 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. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in W.P. Carey by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,171,690 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $214,315,000 after acquiring an additional 49,992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in W.P. Carey by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,570,295 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $173,675,000 after acquiring an additional 19,044 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore set a $74.00 target price on shares of W.P. Carey in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of W.P. Carey from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of W.P. Carey from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $76.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of W.P. Carey from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of W.P. Carey from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.P. Carey currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $73.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Brian H. Zander sold 433 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $32,042.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 13,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,027,268. This represents a 3.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.98% of the company's stock.

W.P. Carey Stock Performance

NYSE:WPC opened at $72.89 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. W.P. Carey Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $59.77 and a fifty-two week high of $75.69. The stock has a market cap of $16.24 billion, a PE ratio of 31.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.77. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $71.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.28.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $430.64 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. W.P. Carey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.160-5.260 EPS. Analysts expect that W.P. Carey Inc. will post 5.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. This is a positive change from W.P. Carey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. W.P. Carey's dividend payout ratio is currently 158.97%.

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.

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 reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.