W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC Shares Sold by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al trimmed its holdings in shares of W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC - Free Report) by 11.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 514,577 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 66,800 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al owned approximately 0.23% of W.P. Carey worth $33,257,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in W.P. Carey by 22.1% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 153,462 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $10,429,000 after purchasing an additional 27,734 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.P. Carey during the second quarter valued at about $1,403,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in shares of W.P. Carey during the second quarter valued at about $8,112,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of W.P. Carey by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,365,724 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $92,815,000 after purchasing an additional 31,476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in shares of W.P. Carey during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,191,000. 73.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on WPC. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of W.P. Carey in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on W.P. Carey from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays reduced their price objective on W.P. Carey from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on W.P. Carey from $80.00 to $73.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on W.P. Carey from $76.00 to $68.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $76.79.

W.P. Carey Stock Down 1.2%

W.P. Carey stock opened at $64.14 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.75. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $66.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.81. W.P. Carey Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.19 and a 1-year high of $77.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.09). W.P. Carey had a return on equity of 7.67% and a net margin of 35.60%. The business had revenue of $468.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $457.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that W.P. Carey Inc. will post 5.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.95 per share. This is an increase from W.P. Carey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.9%. W.P. Carey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 131.03%.

W.P. Carey Company Profile

W.P. Carey Inc NYSE: WPC is a real estate investment trust specializing in the ownership and management of commercial properties under long-term, net lease agreements. In a net lease arrangement, tenants generally assume responsibility for property taxes, insurance and maintenance, allowing W.P. Carey to generate rental income with relatively predictable operating expenses.

The company's portfolio is diversified across industrial, warehouse, retail, self-storage and other commercial properties.

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.