Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 143,125 Shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its position in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) by 34.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 277,751 shares of the company’s stock after selling 143,125 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals were worth $17,153,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals in the second quarter valued at about $47,000. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC acquired a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals in the third quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 200.9% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WPM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Canada lowered Wheaton Precious Metals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group began coverage on Wheaton Precious Metals in a research report on Monday, November 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $78.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $67.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wheaton Precious Metals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.67.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Up 0.4 %

Wheaton Precious Metals stock opened at $57.11 on Friday. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 12-month low of $38.57 and a 12-month high of $68.64. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.75.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34. The company had revenue of $308.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.57 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a net margin of 50.05% and a return on equity of 8.85%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.44 EPS for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were given a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. Wheaton Precious Metals’s payout ratio is 46.27%.

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.