WisdomTree, Inc. $WT Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group more than doubled its stake in WisdomTree during the first quarter, buying an additional 1,013,658 shares to bring its total to 2,009,556 shares worth about $29.3 million.
• WisdomTree reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.27 beating estimates and revenue rising 47.5% year over year to $159.5 million.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but generally positive: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating, with an average target price of $20.06, while the shares recently traded near $20.02.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in WisdomTree, Inc. (NYSE:WT - Free Report) by 101.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,009,556 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,013,658 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 1.32% of WisdomTree worth $29,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in WisdomTree by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 456,990 shares of the company's stock worth $4,076,000 after buying an additional 12,402 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WisdomTree by 379.3% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 880,977 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,858,000 after acquiring an additional 697,156 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of WisdomTree by 35.5% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 301,138 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,466,000 after acquiring an additional 78,837 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of WisdomTree by 722.3% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 93,039 shares of the company's stock worth $1,071,000 after acquiring an additional 81,725 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of WisdomTree by 20.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 482,313 shares of the company's stock worth $5,551,000 after acquiring an additional 80,361 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.64% of the company's stock.

WisdomTree Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WT opened at $20.02 on Monday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $18.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.72. WisdomTree, Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.69 and a 1 year high of $20.37. The company has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a PE ratio of 48.83 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.37, a quick ratio of 4.18 and a current ratio of 4.57.

WisdomTree (NYSE:WT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $159.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.96 million. WisdomTree had a net margin of 11.26% and a return on equity of 33.31%. The firm's revenue was up 47.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.16 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that WisdomTree, Inc. will post 1.14 earnings per share for the current year.

WisdomTree Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. WisdomTree's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on WT. Zacks Research raised shares of WisdomTree from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered WisdomTree from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on WisdomTree from $18.00 to $20.50 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Northland Securities set a $22.00 target price on WisdomTree in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered WisdomTree from a "buy (b)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, WisdomTree has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $20.06.

Insider Activity

In other WisdomTree news, COO R Jarrett Lilien sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.99, for a total transaction of $569,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 1,110,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,083,552.55. This represents a 2.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider David M. Yates sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.06, for a total value of $270,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 157,499 shares in the company, valued at $2,844,431.94. This represents a 8.70% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 10.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

WisdomTree Profile

WisdomTree Investments, Inc NYSE: WT is a U.S.-based asset management firm specializing in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and exchange-traded products (ETPs). Founded in 2006 by Jonathan Steinberg and headquartered in New York City, WisdomTree has developed a reputation for pioneering smart-beta and fundamentally weighted indexing approaches. The company designs strategies that seek to enhance returns and reduce volatility by weighting constituents based on dividends, earnings or other financial metrics rather than relying solely on market capitalization.

WisdomTree offers a broad suite of investment products covering equities, fixed income, currencies, commodities and digital assets.

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