11,400 Shares in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) Purchased by Finward Bancorp

Finward Bancorp acquired a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 11,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $641,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 20,534,104 shares of the company's stock worth $1,154,843,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231,999 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,672,518 shares of the company's stock valued at $994,733,000 after buying an additional 281,123 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,529,219 shares of the company's stock worth $873,995,000 after acquiring an additional 863,306 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the 4th quarter valued at about $472,648,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,156,818 shares of the company's stock worth $402,627,000 after purchasing an additional 629,743 shares during the period. 70.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Canada upgraded Wheaton Precious Metals from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a research report on Wednesday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $129.00 price target for the company. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $83.40.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Performance

Shares of WPM traded down $0.60 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $84.16. The company had a trading volume of 1,745,316 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,642,027. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $73.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.58. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 1 year low of $50.91 and a 1 year high of $86.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a $0.165 dividend. This is an increase from Wheaton Precious Metals's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. Wheaton Precious Metals's payout ratio is presently 56.90%.

About Wheaton Precious Metals

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.