Sapient Capital LLC Takes $2.30 Million Position in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 46,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,303,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $243,010,000. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 245.5% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,530,486 shares of the company's stock valued at $120,401,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798,086 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 41.7% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,787,718 shares of the company's stock worth $132,641,000 after buying an additional 821,061 shares during the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 665.2% during the 1st quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 888,189 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,304,000 after buying an additional 772,118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 99.9% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,498,894 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,006,000 after buying an additional 749,011 shares during the last quarter. 70.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Berenberg Bank raised their price objective on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Raymond James dropped their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. TD Securities raised Wheaton Precious Metals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $51.00 to $53.00 in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, CIBC increased their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $59.63.

Wheaton Precious Metals Price Performance

NYSE WPM traded down $0.81 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $51.81. 3,831,863 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,155,036. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.49. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 1 year low of $38.37 and a 1 year high of $54.30. The company has a market cap of $23.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.20 and a beta of 0.77.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $313.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $284.29 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 52.92%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 3rd will be given a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 2nd. This is a boost from Wheaton Precious Metals's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Wheaton Precious Metals's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.10%.

Wheaton Precious Metals Company Profile

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.