HighTower Advisors LLC Has $11.80 Million Stock Holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) by 11.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 209,727 shares of the company’s stock after selling 25,948 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals were worth $11,795,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WPM. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 33.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,665,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $895,723,000 after purchasing an additional 3,692,594 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 20,534,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,154,843,000 after buying an additional 1,231,999 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 1,865.2% during the 3rd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,245,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,061,000 after buying an additional 1,182,156 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,456,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,207,000 after buying an additional 634,843 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,923,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,551,000 after buying an additional 513,890 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on Wheaton Precious Metals in a research report on Monday, November 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $78.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Canada upgraded Wheaton Precious Metals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Wheaton Precious Metals has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.67.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Up 1.5 %

Wheaton Precious Metals stock opened at $73.82 on Monday. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 12-month low of $43.18 and a 12-month high of $74.93. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $64.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.70. The stock has a market cap of $33.49 billion, a PE ratio of 55.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.77.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $0.44 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $395.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. This is a positive change from Wheaton Precious Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.27%.

Wheaton Precious Metals Company 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.