Natixis Advisors L.P. Lowers Stock Holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)

Natixis Advisors L.P. reduced its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) by 16.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,172,921 shares of the company’s stock after selling 232,476 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals were worth $57,871,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 6.3% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 87,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,563,000 after purchasing an additional 5,181 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 3.7% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 496,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,135,000 after purchasing an additional 17,745 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 106.4% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 15,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $629,000 after purchasing an additional 7,992 shares during the period. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 1.4% in the third quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,142,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 18.3% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,411,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,849,000 after purchasing an additional 527,358 shares during the period. 70.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Raymond James cut their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Berenberg Bank raised their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, TD Securities upgraded Wheaton Precious Metals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $51.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.32.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Down 0.6 %

WPM stock traded down $0.34 during trading on Friday, hitting $52.69. The company had a trading volume of 1,788,127 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,120,260. The firm has a market cap of $23.88 billion, a PE ratio of 44.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.18 and a beta of 0.75. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 1-year low of $38.37 and a 1-year high of $54.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $47.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.75.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $313.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $284.29 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 52.92%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 3rd were issued a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 2nd. This is a positive change from Wheaton Precious Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Wheaton Precious Metals’s payout ratio is currently 52.10%.

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.