Virtu Financial LLC Sells 6,635 Shares of W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC

Key Points

• Virtu Financial LLC reduced its holdings in W.P. Carey Inc. by 64.0%, ending up with shares worth $236,000 after selling 6,635 shares in the first quarter.
• W.P. Carey reported $1.28 earnings per share, exceeding analyst expectations, while its quarterly revenue increased by 10.5% compared to the previous year.
• The company recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.90, resulting in a 5.5% yield and marking an increase from its previous dividend of $0.89.

Virtu Financial LLC lowered its stake in W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC - Free Report) by 64.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,740 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 6,635 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC's holdings in W.P. Carey were worth $236,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in W.P. Carey in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC grew its position in W.P. Carey by 100.8% in the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 482 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new position in W.P. Carey in the first quarter valued at about $37,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in W.P. Carey by 118.6% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 741 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new position in W.P. Carey in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors own 73.73% of the company's stock.

W.P. Carey Stock Performance

Shares of W.P. Carey stock traded up $0.8650 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $65.5250. 1,737,090 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,244,049. The company has a market capitalization of $14.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.11, a P/E/G ratio of 9.51 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a current ratio of 0.19. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.97. W.P. Carey Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.91 and a 12 month high of $66.64.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.05. W.P. Carey had a return on equity of 4.00% and a net margin of 20.42%.The firm had revenue of $430.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $420.99 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. The company's revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. W.P. Carey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.870-4.950 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that W.P. Carey Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This is a boost from W.P. Carey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.5%. W.P. Carey's dividend payout ratio is currently 236.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WPC shares. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on W.P. Carey from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on W.P. Carey from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays set a $61.00 price objective on W.P. Carey and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. BNP Paribas set a $66.00 price objective on W.P. Carey and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on W.P. Carey from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.33.

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.