Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Invests $282,000 in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)

Key Points

• Empirical Financial Services LLC has acquired a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM), investing approximately $282,000 to purchase 3,634 shares in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors have significantly increased their stakes in Wheaton Precious Metals, with Capital International Investors buying a stake worth about $263.8 million in the fourth quarter.
• Securities analysts are generally optimistic about Wheaton Precious Metals, with the average rating being "Buy" and an average price target of $93.00.

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,634 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $282,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WPM. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,529,219 shares of the company's stock worth $873,995,000 after buying an additional 863,306 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,424,930 shares of the company's stock valued at $530,057,000 after buying an additional 447,702 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 7,512,351 shares of the company's stock valued at $582,876,000 after acquiring an additional 355,533 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors purchased a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $263,810,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,593,707 shares of the company's stock worth $202,459,000 after acquiring an additional 137,477 shares during the period. 70.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Berenberg Bank increased their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. UBS Group increased their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. National Bankshares restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $93.00.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Up 2.3%

NYSE WPM traded up $2.20 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $98.07. 2,702,230 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,739,742. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.80. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 12-month low of $53.05 and a 12-month high of $98.50. The company has a market capitalization of $44.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.39.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 10.32% and a net margin of 42.45%. The business had revenue of $470.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $446.33 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 58.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 28th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 28th. Wheaton Precious Metals's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.53%.

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.