WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) Price Target Raised to $12.50

WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) had its price objective upped by Morgan Stanley from $11.50 to $12.50 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Craig Hallum restated a “buy” rating on shares of WisdomTree in a report on Monday, August 4th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of WisdomTree from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of WisdomTree from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $9.50 to $11.90 in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded shares of WisdomTree from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WisdomTree currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.15.

WisdomTree Stock Down 2.7%

WisdomTree stock opened at $13.0550 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.20. WisdomTree has a fifty-two week low of $7.47 and a fifty-two week high of $13.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.48 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.18. WisdomTree had a net margin of 16.25% and a return on equity of 25.17%. The business had revenue of $112.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $110.66 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.16 EPS. WisdomTree’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that WisdomTree will post 0.72 EPS for the current year.

WisdomTree Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 13th. WisdomTree’s payout ratio is presently 30.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO R Jarrett Lilien sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.33, for a total transaction of $333,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,048,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,978,344.54. The trade was a 2.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 9.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WisdomTree

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of WisdomTree by 39.2% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 808,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,210,000 after purchasing an additional 227,626 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of WisdomTree in the first quarter valued at $197,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of WisdomTree by 93.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 313,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,296,000 after purchasing an additional 151,926 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of WisdomTree by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 353,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,709,000 after purchasing an additional 34,670 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of WisdomTree by 5.0% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 70,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 3,359 shares during the last quarter. 78.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WisdomTree Company Profile

WisdomTree, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as an exchange-traded funds (ETFs) sponsor and asset manager. It offers ETFs in equities, currency, fixed income, and alternatives asset classes. The company also licenses its indexes to third parties for proprietary products, as well as offers a platform to promote the use of WisdomTree ETFs in 401(k) plans.