Argent Trust Co Purchases 4,278 Shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)

Argent Trust Co boosted its position in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) by 31.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,905 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,278 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals were worth $939,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WPM. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 71.2% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 4,857,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $229,026,000 after purchasing an additional 2,019,722 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 593.5% during the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,608,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,388,000 after buying an additional 1,376,231 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 31.0% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,672,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $272,975,000 after acquiring an additional 1,342,264 shares during the last quarter. Barings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the 2nd quarter valued at $65,405,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,309,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $344,483,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010,307 shares during the last quarter. 70.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WPM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Berenberg Bank lifted their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. CIBC increased their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $62.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $66.50 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.50.

Wheaton Precious Metals Price Performance

NYSE:WPM opened at $62.22 on Friday. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a one year low of $38.37 and a one year high of $64.27. The company has a market cap of $28.23 billion, a PE ratio of 47.80, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $59.61 and a 200-day moving average of $54.50.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.04. Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 8.54% and a net margin of 50.44%. The firm had revenue of $299.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $309.54 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.31 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.155 per share. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio is 47.69%.

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.