Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 281,123 Shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,672,518 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 281,123 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 3.90% of Wheaton Precious Metals worth $994,733,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the fourth quarter worth $20,790,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 955,540 shares of the company's stock worth $58,422,000 after acquiring an additional 36,970 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 163,514 shares of the company's stock worth $9,196,000 after acquiring an additional 26,924 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 42.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 133,627 shares of the company's stock worth $8,170,000 after purchasing an additional 39,979 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DF Dent & Co. Inc. raised its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 44.9% in the third quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 45,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,761,000 after purchasing an additional 14,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.34% of the company's stock.

Wheaton Precious Metals Price Performance

Shares of WPM traded up $0.38 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $77.21. 331,385 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,645,680. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $48.00 and a fifty-two week high of $78.05. The business has a 50-day moving average of $69.19 and a 200-day moving average of $64.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.77.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $0.44 EPS 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 company posted $0.36 EPS. The business's revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. This is a boost from Wheaton Precious Metals's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Wheaton Precious Metals's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Stifel Canada upgraded shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $72.44.

Wheaton Precious Metals Company 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.