Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Wheaton Precious Metals Call Options (NYSE:WPM)

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 6,649 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 100% compared to the typical volume of 3,320 call options.

Institutional Trading of Wheaton Precious Metals

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 33.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,665,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $895,723,000 after purchasing an additional 3,692,594 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP bought a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals in the third quarter worth approximately $113,017,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased 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. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 1,865.2% in the third quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,245,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182,156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 22.5% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,456,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,207,000 after purchasing an additional 634,843 shares in the last quarter. 70.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of WPM traded up $0.95 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $64.51. 586,678 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,369,355. The company has a market cap of $29.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.77. Wheaton Precious Metals has a fifty-two week low of $38.57 and a fifty-two week high of $68.64. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $59.36 and its 200 day moving average is $60.65.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 50.05%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Wheaton Precious Metals will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were paid a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WPM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on Wheaton Precious Metals in a research note on Monday, November 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $78.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James upped their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. National Bank Financial upgraded Wheaton Precious Metals from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Stifel Canada cut Wheaton Precious Metals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, TD Securities increased their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Wheaton Precious Metals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.67.

About Wheaton Precious Metals

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.