Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 217,766 Shares of WisdomTree, Inc. $WT

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in WisdomTree, Inc. by 1.5%, now holding 14,752,247 shares worth $131.6 million.
• In addition to Vanguard, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position by 39.2%, reflecting positive institutional interest in the company.
• WisdomTree's latest quarterly earnings reported earnings per share of $0.18, meeting expectations, with revenue up by 5.2% year-over-year.

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in WisdomTree, Inc. (NYSE:WT - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,752,247 shares of the company's stock after selling 217,766 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 10.03% of WisdomTree worth $131,590,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP increased its stake in WisdomTree by 1,778.5% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,799 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 2,650 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WisdomTree by 114.0% in the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 3,852 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 2,052 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of WisdomTree by 310.5% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 5,263 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 3,981 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of WisdomTree in the 4th quarter valued at $108,000. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of WisdomTree during the 1st quarter worth $111,000. Institutional investors own 78.64% of the company's stock.

WisdomTree Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of WT stock traded up $0.3050 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $13.2350. 2,483,675 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,133,122. WisdomTree, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $7.47 and a fifty-two week high of $13.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.94 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.25.

WisdomTree (NYSE:WT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $110.66 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.16 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that WisdomTree, Inc. will post 0.72 EPS for the current year.

WisdomTree Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. WisdomTree's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on WT shares. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of WisdomTree from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded WisdomTree from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the company from $9.50 to $11.90 in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Northcoast Research upgraded WisdomTree from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $15.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on WisdomTree from $11.50 to $12.50 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Craig Hallum restated a "buy" rating on shares of WisdomTree in a report on Monday, August 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $13.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WisdomTree news, COO R Jarrett Lilien sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.33, for a total value of $333,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,048,638 shares in the company, valued at $13,978,344.54. The trade was a 2.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 9.30% of the company's stock.

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.