Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. $WPM Shares Sold by Metis Global Partners LLC

Key Points

• Metis Global Partners LLC cut its Wheaton Precious Metals stake by 15.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 11,688 shares and ending with 62,552 shares valued at about $7.35 million.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with hedge funds and asset managers holding 70.34% of the company’s stock. Several large investors, including Vanguard and Capital International Investors, added to their positions during the period.
• Wheaton Precious Metals beat quarterly expectations, reporting $1.28 EPS and $901.47 million in revenue, while analysts still lean bullish with an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $155.64.

Metis Global Partners LLC lowered its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM - Free Report) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,552 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,688 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC's holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals were worth $7,354,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,079,029 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,242,969,000 after purchasing an additional 289,939 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,595,725 shares of the company's stock valued at $892,650,000 after purchasing an additional 93,599 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $864,977,000. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 7,285,275 shares of the company's stock valued at $857,598,000 after purchasing an additional 33,221 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings 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 valued at $777,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847,977 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.34% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WPM shares. TD Securities boosted their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $164.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Zacks Research lowered Wheaton Precious Metals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. UBS Group raised Wheaton Precious Metals from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $160.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, March 27th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Wheaton Precious Metals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $155.64.

Wheaton Precious Metals Price Performance

Shares of WPM stock opened at $107.54 on Thursday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $133.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $131.75. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 1-year low of $85.59 and a 1-year high of $165.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.84 billion, a PE ratio of 27.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.51.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.04. Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 20.20% and a net margin of 65.55%.The firm had revenue of $901.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $868.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. Wheaton Precious Metals's quarterly revenue was up 91.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.195 per share. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. 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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