Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Trims Position in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,017 shares of the company’s stock after selling 154 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals were worth $395,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 235,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,381,000 after acquiring an additional 89,671 shares during the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals during the third quarter worth approximately $685,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 18.0% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 13,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $803,000 after purchasing an additional 2,004 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 42.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 133,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,170,000 after purchasing an additional 39,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insigneo Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. 70.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Canada upgraded Wheaton Precious Metals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $75.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wheaton Precious Metals has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.50.

Wheaton Precious Metals Trading Down 9.6 %

NYSE WPM opened at $70.99 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.30. The stock has a market cap of $32.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.98, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.74. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 52 week low of $49.41 and a 52 week high of $80.43.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.01). Wheaton Precious Metals had a net margin of 50.05% and a return on equity of 8.85%. The firm had revenue of $380.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $395.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This is an increase from Wheaton Precious Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. Wheaton Precious Metals’s payout ratio is currently 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.