WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) Reaches New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

WisdomTree, Inc. (NYSE:WT) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The stock traded as high as $17.27 and last traded at $17.1440, with a volume of 734386 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $16.69.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on WT. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on WisdomTree from $14.00 to $15.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of WisdomTree from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Northland Securities set a $20.00 price objective on shares of WisdomTree in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of WisdomTree in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $16.75 price target on WisdomTree in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, WisdomTree has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO R Jarrett Lilien sold 30,000 shares of WisdomTree stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.84, for a total transaction of $505,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,140,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,201,725.80. This trade represents a 2.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider David M. Yates sold 6,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.12, for a total transaction of $75,838.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 152,123 shares in the company, valued at $1,691,607.76. This trade represents a 4.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 9.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WisdomTree

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WT. Quarry LP grew its stake in WisdomTree by 1,679.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 2,082 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in WisdomTree in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in shares of WisdomTree by 163.0% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,521 shares during the last quarter. Quattro Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WisdomTree during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in WisdomTree during the third quarter valued at $37,000. 78.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WisdomTree Stock Down 1.5%

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The company has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.81 and a beta of 1.09.

WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.06. WisdomTree had a net margin of 22.10% and a return on equity of 30.24%. The firm had revenue of $147.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $142.78 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.17 EPS. WisdomTree’s revenue was up 33.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that WisdomTree, Inc. will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WisdomTree Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 11th. WisdomTree’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.00%.

WisdomTree Company Profile

WisdomTree Investments, Inc (NYSE: WT) is a U.S.-based asset management firm specializing in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and exchange-traded products (ETPs). Founded in 2006 by Jonathan Steinberg and headquartered in New York City, WisdomTree has developed a reputation for pioneering smart-beta and fundamentally weighted indexing approaches. The company designs strategies that seek to enhance returns and reduce volatility by weighting constituents based on dividends, earnings or other financial metrics rather than relying solely on market capitalization.

WisdomTree offers a broad suite of investment products covering equities, fixed income, currencies, commodities and digital assets.