Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. Sells 55,241 Shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM - Free Report) by 63.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,425 shares of the company's stock after selling 55,241 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals were worth $1,551,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 792 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 230.7% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 863 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 602 shares during the period. 70.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WPM has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a report on Thursday, February 29th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $49.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of 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. Berenberg Bank increased their target price 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. Finally, TD Securities upgraded shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $53.00 in a report on Monday, March 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Wheaton Precious Metals presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $59.63.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Performance

Wheaton Precious Metals stock traded up $1.41 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $52.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,799,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,163,379. The company has a market capitalization of $23.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.19 and a beta of 0.77. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 12 month low of $38.37 and a 12 month high of $54.30. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $45.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.82.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $313.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $284.29 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a net margin of 52.92% and a return on equity of 7.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.24 EPS for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 3rd were given a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 2nd. This is an increase from Wheaton Precious Metals's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Wheaton Precious Metals's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.10%.

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.