WisdomTree, Inc. (NYSE:WT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• WisdomTree has a “Moderate Buy” consensus from eight analysts, with four rating it a hold and four a buy. The average 12-month price target is about $18.47.
• The company recently reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.27 versus the $0.25 estimate and revenue of $159.5 million, up 47.5% year over year.
• WisdomTree also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.03 per share, payable May 27, which works out to a 0.6% yield. Meanwhile, several insiders sold shares recently, including CEO-level and COO-level transactions.

WisdomTree, Inc. (NYSE:WT - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eight ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $18.4667.

WT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of WisdomTree in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. They set an "outperform" rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of WisdomTree from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of WisdomTree from a "buy (b)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $18.00 price target on shares of WisdomTree in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of WisdomTree from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st.

WisdomTree Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE WT opened at $19.42 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.37, a current ratio of 4.57 and a quick ratio of 4.18. WisdomTree has a 1 year low of $9.24 and a 1 year high of $19.85. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.54. The firm has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a PE ratio of 47.35 and a beta of 1.13.

WisdomTree (NYSE:WT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.02. WisdomTree had a net margin of 11.26% and a return on equity of 33.31%. The firm had revenue of $159.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.96 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.16 EPS. The company's revenue was up 47.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that WisdomTree will post 1.13 EPS for the current year.

WisdomTree Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. WisdomTree's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.27%.

Insider Activity at WisdomTree

In other news, insider David M. Yates sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.06, for a total transaction of $270,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 157,499 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,844,431.94. This trade represents a 8.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO R Jarrett Lilien sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.84, for a total transaction of $505,200.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,140,245 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,201,725.80. This trade represents a 2.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 10.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of WisdomTree

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WT. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of WisdomTree by 236.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,674,630 shares of the company's stock worth $134,477,000 after buying an additional 6,799,654 shares during the period. Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in shares of WisdomTree during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,835,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of WisdomTree by 116.5% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,389,653 shares of the company's stock worth $41,320,000 after buying an additional 1,823,777 shares during the period. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WisdomTree during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $24,125,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of WisdomTree by 463.8% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,697,707 shares of the company's stock worth $23,598,000 after buying an additional 1,396,569 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.64% of the company's stock.

About WisdomTree

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.