Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. $WPM Shares Purchased by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) by 21.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,467 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,824 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals were worth $11,090,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Parvin Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 11,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,401,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 20,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,405,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $494,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Gables Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 27,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,185,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on WPM. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Wheaton Precious Metals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.55.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WPM opened at $109.34 on Thursday. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a one year low of $90.39 and a one year high of $165.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.61, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $116.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $131.43.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.04. Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 20.20% and a net margin of 65.55%.The company had revenue of $901.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $868.35 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 91.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 4.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a $0.195 dividend. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. Wheaton Precious Metals’s payout ratio is 19.70%.

Wheaton Precious Metals Company Profile

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. is a Canada-based precious metals streaming company that acquires and manages long-term purchase agreements for metals produced by mining companies. Rather than operating mines, Wheaton provides upfront and ongoing financing to miners in exchange for the right to purchase a portion of the metals produced — typically silver and gold, and occasionally other precious metals — at predetermined prices. This streaming business model offers investors exposure to metal production with reduced operating and capital-cost risk compared with traditional mining companies.

The company’s activities center on structuring and maintaining a diversified portfolio of streaming agreements across multiple jurisdictions.