Vanguard Group Inc. Decreases Position in W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its W.P. Carey stake by 0.6% in Q4 (sold 188,480 shares) but still holds 30,437,061 shares—about 13.89% of the company—valued at roughly $1.96 billion.
• W.P. Carey beat quarterly estimates with $1.30 EPS (vs. $0.64 expected) and $454.5M revenue, and set FY2026 guidance of $5.160–$5.260 EPS (sell-side consensus ~5.02).
• The company boosted its quarterly dividend to $0.93 ($3.72 annualized, ~5.2% yield), while analysts' consensus remains a "Hold" with an average price target of $72.30.

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its holdings in W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC - Free Report) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,437,061 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 188,480 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 13.89% of W.P. Carey worth $1,958,929,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in W.P. Carey in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in W.P. Carey in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Wealth Watch Advisors INC purchased a new position in W.P. Carey in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in W.P. Carey in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in shares of W.P. Carey by 1,450.0% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 620 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WPC shares. Evercore set a $74.00 price objective on shares of W.P. Carey in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of W.P. Carey from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of W.P. Carey from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of W.P. Carey from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $76.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of W.P. Carey in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $72.30.

W.P. Carey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WPC opened at $72.07 on Thursday. W.P. Carey Inc. has a 1 year low of $59.34 and a 1 year high of $75.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.14 and a quick ratio of 0.14. The company's 50-day moving average is $71.46 and its 200 day moving average is $68.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.16, a P/E/G ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.78.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.66. The company had revenue of $454.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $435.88 million. W.P. Carey had a net margin of 27.17% and a return on equity of 5.67%. W.P. Carey's quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. W.P. Carey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.160-5.260 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that W.P. Carey Inc. will post 5.02 earnings per share for the current year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. This is a boost from W.P. Carey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. W.P. Carey's dividend payout ratio is currently 176.30%.

W.P. Carey Company 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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