Merit Financial Group LLC Makes New Investment in Realty Income Co. (NYSE:O)

Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Realty Income Co. (NYSE:O) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 4,340 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of O. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Realty Income by 423.0% in the 3rd quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 523 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Realty Income by 62.7% during the 4th quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 493 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Realty Income in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new position in Realty Income in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Realty Income during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 70.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Realty Income from $67.75 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Realty Income in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $57.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Realty Income from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Realty Income from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Realty Income from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.96.

Realty Income Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE O opened at $54.63 on Friday. Realty Income Co. has a 12 month low of $45.03 and a 12 month high of $64.18. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $52.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.74. The stock has a market cap of $47.04 billion, a PE ratio of 50.58, a PEG ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Realty Income (NYSE:O) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by ($0.87). The company had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. Realty Income had a return on equity of 4.06% and a net margin of 21.39%. The business’s revenue was up 33.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Realty Income Co. will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Realty Income Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a may 24 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.257 per share. This represents a yield of 5.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. Realty Income’s payout ratio is 285.19%.

Insider Activity

In other Realty Income news, Director A. Larry Chapman sold 5,000 shares of Realty Income stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.23, for a total value of $271,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,257 shares in the company, valued at $339,317.11. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Realty Income Company Profile

Realty Income, The Monthly Dividend Company, is an S&P 500 company and member of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats index. We invest in people and places to deliver dependable monthly dividends that increase over time. The company is structured as a real estate investment trust ("REIT"), and its monthly dividends are supported by the cash flow from over 15,450 real estate properties (including properties acquired in the Spirit merger in January 2024) primarily owned under long-term net lease agreements with commercial clients.