Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Has $39.05 Million Stock Position in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. $WPM

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management increased its Wheaton Precious Metals stake by 20.7% in Q1, ending with 298,718 shares worth about $39.05 million.
• Institutional ownership in WPM remains very high, with funds holding about 70.34% of the stock and several large investors recently adding to positions.
• Analysts are still broadly positive on the name: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus, even after some target cuts, with an average price target of $154.73.

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM - Free Report) by 20.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 298,718 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 51,323 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.07% of Wheaton Precious Metals worth $39,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WPM. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals during the 4th quarter valued at about $864,977,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 36.2% in the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,955,810 shares of the company's stock worth $777,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847,977 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,912,588 shares of the company's stock worth $694,951,000 after purchasing an additional 1,715,540 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,469,877 shares of the company's stock worth $1,700,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,402,092 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 26.1% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,455,675 shares of the company's stock worth $722,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,588 shares during the period. 70.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on WPM. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Zacks Research cut shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $240.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Wheaton Precious Metals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $154.73.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Up 1.2%

NYSE WPM opened at $112.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.96 billion, a PE ratio of 28.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $127.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $132.84. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 12-month low of $85.59 and a 12-month high of $165.76.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $901.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $868.35 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a net margin of 65.55% and a return on equity of 20.20%. Wheaton Precious Metals's quarterly revenue was up 91.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a $0.195 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Wheaton Precious Metals's dividend payout ratio is currently 19.70%.

Wheaton Precious Metals Profile

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. is a Canada-based precious metals streaming company that acquires and manages long-term purchase agreements for metals produced by mining companies. Rather than operating mines, Wheaton provides upfront and ongoing financing to miners in exchange for the right to purchase a portion of the metals produced — typically silver and gold, and occasionally other precious metals — at predetermined prices. This streaming business model offers investors exposure to metal production with reduced operating and capital-cost risk compared with traditional mining companies.

The company's activities center on structuring and maintaining a diversified portfolio of streaming agreements across multiple jurisdictions.

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