Millennium Management LLC Buys 2,235,413 Shares of WisdomTree, Inc. $WT

Key Points

• Millennium Management LLC has increased its stake in WisdomTree, Inc. by 110.0%, owning approximately 4.27 million shares valued at $38.06 million.
• Several institutional investors have also boosted their holdings in WisdomTree, contributing to institutional ownership reaching 78.64% of the company's stock.
• WisdomTree reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.18, meeting expectations, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.03 per share with a yield of 0.9%.

Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of WisdomTree, Inc. (NYSE:WT - Free Report) by 110.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,266,947 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,235,413 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned 2.90% of WisdomTree worth $38,061,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WT. Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of WisdomTree by 114.0% during the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 3,852 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 2,052 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of WisdomTree by 310.5% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 5,263 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 3,981 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of WisdomTree by 112.4% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,944 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 3,145 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of WisdomTree by 758.2% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 6,986 shares of the company's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 6,172 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in WisdomTree in the 1st quarter valued at $94,000. 78.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO R Jarrett Lilien sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.33, for a total transaction of $333,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,048,638 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,978,344.54. This represents a 2.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 9.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Northland Securities set a $16.00 price target on WisdomTree in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Oppenheimer increased their price target on WisdomTree from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on WisdomTree from $11.50 to $12.50 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Northcoast Research upgraded WisdomTree from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $15.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised WisdomTree from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $9.50 to $11.90 in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, WisdomTree currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $13.56.

WisdomTree Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WT traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $14.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 555,562 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,207,676. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.06 billion, a PE ratio of 35.95 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $13.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.69. WisdomTree, Inc. has a 52 week low of $7.47 and a 52 week high of $14.40.

WisdomTree (NYSE:WT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18. WisdomTree had a return on equity of 25.17% and a net margin of 16.25%.The company had revenue of $112.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $110.66 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.16 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that WisdomTree, Inc. will post 0.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WisdomTree Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. WisdomTree's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.77%.

About WisdomTree

WisdomTree, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as an exchange-traded funds (ETFs) sponsor and asset manager. It offers ETFs in equities, currency, fixed income, and alternatives asset classes. The company also licenses its indexes to third parties for proprietary products, as well as offers a platform to promote the use of WisdomTree ETFs in 401(k) plans.