Marshall Wace LLP Decreases Position in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)

Marshall Wace LLP reduced its position in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM - Free Report) by 57.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 185,538 shares of the company's stock after selling 247,627 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP's holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals were worth $10,435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WPM. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Canada raised shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Wheaton Precious Metals in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $129.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $83.40.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Performance

NYSE WPM traded down $0.55 on Friday, reaching $81.62. 1,463,968 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,648,206. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $51.80 and a fifty-two week high of $87.42. The firm has a market cap of $37.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $75.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.44.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $380.52 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $395.74 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a net margin of 50.05% and a return on equity of 8.85%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. This is an increase from Wheaton Precious Metals's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. Wheaton Precious Metals's dividend payout ratio is 56.90%.

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.