Wheaton Precious Metals Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:WPM)

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

Wheaton Precious Metals Price Performance

Shares of WPM opened at $65.92 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.71. Wheaton Precious Metals has a one year low of $38.57 and a one year high of $68.64. The company has a market capitalization of $29.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.19, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.77.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.34. The company had revenue of $308.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wheaton Precious Metals will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wheaton Precious Metals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WPM. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 20,534,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,154,843,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231,999 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 33.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,665,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $895,723,000 after purchasing an additional 3,692,594 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,456,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,207,000 after purchasing an additional 634,843 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,923,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,551,000 after purchasing an additional 513,890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,541,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,356,000 after buying an additional 267,973 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a research note on Monday, November 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $78.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Canada cut Wheaton Precious Metals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. National Bank Financial raised Wheaton Precious Metals from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, TD Securities raised their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wheaton Precious Metals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.67.

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.