Mariner LLC Grows Stake in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)

Mariner LLC increased its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM - Free Report) by 17.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,637 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,336 shares during the period. Mariner LLC's holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals were worth $2,454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cohen & Steers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the fourth quarter worth $5,532,000. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 152.9% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 798,853 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,928,000 after purchasing an additional 482,939 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 35,604 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,002,000 after purchasing an additional 2,640 shares in the last quarter. Argent Trust Co grew its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 18,666 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,050,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 148,519 shares of the company's stock worth $8,257,000 after purchasing an additional 12,805 shares during the last quarter. 70.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on WPM shares. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $129.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Stifel Canada upgraded shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target 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. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $83.40.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Down 1.9 %

WPM stock opened at $83.49 on Wednesday. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a twelve month low of $50.95 and a twelve month high of $87.42. The firm has a market cap of $37.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.31, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.74. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $74.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.94.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $395.74 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.36 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were issued a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. This is a positive change from Wheaton Precious Metals's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Wheaton Precious Metals's payout ratio is currently 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.

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