Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its position in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM – Free Report) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,669 shares of the company’s stock after selling 559 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals were worth $826,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WPM. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 3.2% during the third quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 20,998,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $851,480,000 after purchasing an additional 644,746 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 1.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,203,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $657,034,000 after purchasing an additional 248,541 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 10.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,585,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $307,583,000 after purchasing an additional 713,381 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 6.0% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,344,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,893,000 after purchasing an additional 361,138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $243,010,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.34% of the company’s stock.
Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Performance
Wheaton Precious Metals stock opened at $50.57 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.99 and a beta of 0.77. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $38.37 and a fifty-two week high of $52.76. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $44.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.30.
Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $313.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $284.29 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 52.92%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.155 dividend. This is a positive change from Wheaton Precious Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 2nd. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio is 52.10%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank cut their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Berenberg Bank upped their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Wheaton Precious Metals in a report on Thursday, February 29th. They set a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James dropped their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, National Bank Financial lowered Wheaton Precious Metals from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.63.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Wheaton Precious Metals
About Wheaton Precious Metals
Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. primarily sells precious metals in North America, Europe, and South America. It produces and sells gold, silver, palladium, and cobalt deposits. The company was formerly known as Silver Wheaton Corp. and changed its name to Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. in May 2017. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp.
Featured Articles
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WPM? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM – Free Report).
Receive News & Ratings for Wheaton Precious Metals Daily – Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts’ ratings for Wheaton Precious Metals and related companies with MarketBeat.com’s FREE daily email newsletter.