Swiss National Bank Sells 53,800 Shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)

Swiss National Bank decreased its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM - Free Report) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,317,000 shares of the company's stock after selling 53,800 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.29% of Wheaton Precious Metals worth $74,094,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WPM. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 33.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,665,913 shares of the company's stock valued at $895,723,000 after purchasing an additional 3,692,594 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,154,843,000 after buying an additional 1,231,999 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 1,865.2% in the 3rd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,245,534 shares of the company's stock valued at $76,061,000 after buying an additional 1,182,156 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 22.5% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,456,230 shares of the company's stock valued at $211,207,000 after buying an additional 634,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,923,402 shares of the company's stock valued at $178,551,000 after buying an additional 513,890 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.34% of the company's stock.

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Wheaton Precious Metals Trading Up 1.0 %

Wheaton Precious Metals stock traded up $0.75 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $76.28. 1,395,954 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,594,867. The firm has a market cap of $34.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.93, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $65.49 and a 200 day moving average of $62.89. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 12 month low of $43.18 and a 12 month high of $77.44.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 company had revenue of $380.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $395.74 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.36 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. This is a boost from Wheaton Precious Metals's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Wheaton Precious Metals's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on WPM. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Stifel Canada raised Wheaton Precious Metals from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wheaton Precious Metals presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $72.44.

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.