7,853,865 Shares in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) Purchased by Norges Bank

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,853,865 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $387,481,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.73% of Wheaton Precious Metals as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 20,521,065 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,012,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,856,031 shares in the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 426.7% during the 4th quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 957,339 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,460,000 after buying an additional 775,588 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,585,266 shares of the company's stock valued at $307,583,000 after buying an additional 713,381 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 20,998,263 shares of the company's stock valued at $851,480,000 after buying an additional 644,746 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,586,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $104,895,000 after buying an additional 468,782 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.34% of the company's stock.

Wheaton Precious Metals Price Performance

NYSE:WPM traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $57.85. 1,209,038 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,049,255. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a twelve month low of $38.37 and a twelve month high of $57.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.60 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $50.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.91.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.07. Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 53.74%. The business had revenue of $296.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $278.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 38.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 29th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. Wheaton Precious Metals's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WPM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Berenberg Bank raised their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $54.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. CIBC lifted their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $58.45.

Wheaton Precious Metals 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.