Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Stake in WisdomTree, Inc. (NYSE:WT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of WisdomTree, Inc. (NYSE:WT) by 26.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 708,842 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 150,257 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.47% of WisdomTree worth $7,081,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WT. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in WisdomTree by 0.9% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,042,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,154,000 after acquiring an additional 25,759 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of WisdomTree by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,788,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,629,000 after purchasing an additional 194,369 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in WisdomTree by 92.5% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,922,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,051,000 after buying an additional 923,994 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in WisdomTree by 82.3% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 772,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,656,000 after buying an additional 348,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of WisdomTree by 51.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 720,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,137,000 after acquiring an additional 245,041 shares during the period. 78.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WT shares. Northcoast Research downgraded WisdomTree from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $12.00 price target (up previously from $11.00) on shares of WisdomTree in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Craig Hallum lifted their price objective on WisdomTree from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on WisdomTree from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on WisdomTree from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.25.

WisdomTree Price Performance

WT stock opened at $11.55 on Wednesday. WisdomTree, Inc. has a 1 year low of $6.24 and a 1 year high of $12.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a PE ratio of 39.83 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.88 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.10.

WisdomTree Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 6th will be issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. WisdomTree’s payout ratio is 41.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WisdomTree

In related news, insider Peter M. Ziemba sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.43, for a total value of $1,143,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 948,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,840,051.98. The trade was a 9.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jonathan L. Steinberg bought 67,869 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $10.84 per share, for a total transaction of $735,699.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 9,240,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $100,169,263.88. The trade was a 0.74 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

WisdomTree Company Profile

WisdomTree, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as an exchange-traded funds (ETFs) sponsor and asset manager. It offers ETFs in equities, currency, fixed income, and alternatives asset classes. The company also licenses its indexes to third parties for proprietary products, as well as offers a platform to promote the use of WisdomTree ETFs in 401(k) plans.