Swiss National Bank Sells 25,900 Shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)

Key Points

• Swiss National Bank has reduced its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 2.0%, selling 25,900 shares in the first quarter, resulting in ownership of 1,291,100 shares valued at approximately $100.26 million.
• A number of institutional investors have increased their holdings, with Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board growing its position by 161.5%, among other notable increases from firms like Vanguard Group and Ruffer LLP.
• Wheaton Precious Metals reported strong earnings, posting an EPS of $0.63 for the quarter, exceeding expectations and reflecting a year-over-year revenue increase of 68.2%.

Swiss National Bank lowered its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,291,100 shares of the company's stock after selling 25,900 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.28% of Wheaton Precious Metals worth $100,262,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,996,858 shares of the company's stock worth $1,396,556,000 after purchasing an additional 324,340 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,424,930 shares of the company's stock worth $530,057,000 after purchasing an additional 447,702 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 7,512,351 shares of the company's stock worth $582,876,000 after purchasing an additional 355,533 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors acquired a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $263,810,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,593,707 shares of the company's stock worth $202,459,000 after purchasing an additional 137,477 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. UBS Group set a $106.00 target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Wheaton Precious Metals presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $94.89.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Performance

Shares of WPM stock traded down $3.29 during trading on Monday, hitting $97.40. 3,400,390 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,823,848. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.39. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $91.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.19. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a twelve month low of $55.47 and a twelve month high of $103.81.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $503.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $424.23 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a net margin of 47.46% and a return on equity of 12.12%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 68.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be 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 of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Wheaton Precious Metals's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.15%.

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.