Macquarie Group Ltd. Sells 22,623 Shares of W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC)

Macquarie Group Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC – Get Rating) by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 76,433 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 22,623 shares during the period. Macquarie Group Ltd.’s holdings in W. P. Carey were worth $5,393,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WPC. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in W. P. Carey by 66.7% in the 3rd quarter. Core Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 375 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in shares of W. P. Carey in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. P. Carey in the first quarter worth $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. acquired a new position in W. P. Carey in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in W. P. Carey in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.73% of the company’s stock.

W. P. Carey Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of WPC opened at $80.39 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $82.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. W. P. Carey Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.76 and a 12-month high of $89.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.89, a P/E/G ratio of 11.89 and a beta of 0.77.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 13th. Investors of record on Friday, December 30th were paid a $1.065 dividend. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.30%. This is a positive change from W. P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 29th. W. P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 142.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on WPC. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of W. P. Carey from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 19th. Capital One Financial reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of W. P. Carey in a research report on Monday, December 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on W. P. Carey from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.80.

About W. P. Carey

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W.P. Carey, Inc is an investment trust company, which engages in the commercial real estate business. It operates through the Real Estate and Investment Management segments. The Real Estate segment owns and invests in commercial real estate properties. The Investment Management segment structures and negotiates investments and debt placement transactions for real estate investment trusts, and manages portfolios of real estate investments.