Prudential PLC Sells 50,185 Shares of W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC

Prudential PLC trimmed its holdings in shares of W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) by 59.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 34,563 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 50,185 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in W.P. Carey were worth $2,224,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WPC. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in W.P. Carey by 416.8% during the third 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 during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in W.P. Carey during the fourth quarter worth about $184,035,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in W.P. Carey by 1,183.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,130,402 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $76,381,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042,334 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in W.P. Carey by 2,712.0% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 771,534 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $48,128,000 after buying an additional 744,097 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in W.P. Carey by 331.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 861,430 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $58,207,000 after buying an additional 661,572 shares during the period. 73.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of W.P. Carey from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of W.P. Carey from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Raymond James Financial raised shares of W.P. Carey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of W.P. Carey from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of W.P. Carey from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W.P. Carey currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.00.

W.P. Carey Price Performance

WPC stock opened at $74.50 on Monday. 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 12 month low of $61.09 and a 12 month high of $75.69. The firm has a market cap of $16.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $72.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.10.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) 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 $0.61 by $0.69. The company had revenue of $454.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $430.64 million. W.P. Carey had a net margin of 29.35% and a return on equity of 6.29%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. W.P. Carey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.160-5.260 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that W.P. Carey Inc. will post 5.02 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 Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This is a boost from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. W.P. Carey’s payout ratio is presently 158.97%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Brian H. Zander sold 433 shares of W.P. Carey stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 3.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

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.