Aviva PLC Acquires 223,646 Shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)

Aviva PLC lifted its position in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM - Free Report) by 389.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 281,097 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 223,646 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC owned 0.06% of Wheaton Precious Metals worth $15,790,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the 4th quarter valued at about $472,648,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $72,657,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 6.4% in the fourth 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. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 33.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,664,542 shares of the company's stock valued at $151,134,000 after acquiring an additional 661,913 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,156,818 shares of the company's stock valued at $402,627,000 after purchasing an additional 629,743 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.34% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WPM shares. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $75.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Stifel Canada raised shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Wheaton Precious Metals has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $75.60.

Wheaton Precious Metals Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WPM traded up $4.18 during trading on Friday, hitting $82.08. The company had a trading volume of 3,609,122 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,641,447. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.86. The stock has a market cap of $37.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.74. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a one year low of $49.71 and a one year high of $82.99.

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 the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $380.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $395.74 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 1st. This is a positive change from Wheaton Precious Metals's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Wheaton Precious Metals's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.90%.

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.