Brown Advisory Inc. Sells 19,236 Shares of W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC)

Brown Advisory Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC - Free Report) by 5.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 367,107 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 19,236 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. owned approximately 0.17% of W.P. Carey worth $23,168,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WPC. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of W.P. Carey during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $139,381,000. Demars Financial Group LLC grew its stake in W.P. Carey by 10,001.1% in the fourth quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 998,292 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $54,387,000 after purchasing an additional 988,409 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in W.P. Carey by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,022,953 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $219,170,000 after purchasing an additional 906,622 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in W.P. Carey by 40.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,641,229 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $143,894,000 after purchasing an additional 758,627 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in W.P. Carey in the fourth quarter worth $31,442,000. Institutional investors own 73.73% of the company's stock.

W.P. Carey Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WPC traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $62.81. 1,142,203 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,162,262. The company has a market cap of $13.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.38, a P/E/G ratio of 6.99 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23. W.P. Carey Inc. has a one year low of $52.91 and a one year high of $66.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $62.34 and a 200 day moving average of $60.30.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $407.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $412.99 million. W.P. Carey had a net margin of 26.66% and a return on equity of 5.02%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that W.P. Carey Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. This is an increase from W.P. Carey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.73%. W.P. Carey's dividend payout ratio is currently 185.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays set a $61.00 price target on W.P. Carey and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on W.P. Carey from $410.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. BNP Paribas Exane raised W.P. Carey from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $66.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 9th. BNP Paribas set a $66.00 price target on W.P. Carey and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on W.P. Carey from $66.00 to $63.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, W.P. Carey presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $104.22.

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.