Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) Shares Sold by Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. trimmed its position in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,992 shares of the company’s stock after selling 699 shares during the quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals were worth $690,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 20,521,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,012,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,856,031 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 26.0% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 809,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,048,000 after acquiring an additional 166,757 shares during the period. Meixler Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Meixler Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals during the 4th quarter worth $1,509,000. Finally, Syon Capital LLC increased its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 6,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. 70.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on WPM shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Berenberg Bank lifted their price objective on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, CIBC lifted their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.32.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Performance

WPM opened at $52.14 on Wednesday. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 1-year low of $38.37 and a 1-year high of $54.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $47.07 and a 200-day moving average of $46.66. The company has a market capitalization of $23.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.82, a PEG ratio of 7.26 and a beta of 0.77.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.04. Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 52.92%. The firm had revenue of $313.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $284.29 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 3rd were given a dividend of $0.155 per share. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 2nd. This is an increase from Wheaton Precious Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.10%.

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.