Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) Stock Price

WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) had its target price increased by Morgan Stanley from $12.50 to $13.50 in a report issued on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on WT. Craig Hallum reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of WisdomTree in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Northland Securities set a $16.00 price objective on shares of WisdomTree in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of WisdomTree from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of WisdomTree from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $9.50 to $11.90 in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Northcoast Research upgraded shares of WisdomTree from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, WisdomTree has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.07.

WisdomTree Stock Up 2.0%

WisdomTree stock opened at $13.87 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company’s 50-day moving average is $13.59 and its 200-day moving average is $11.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a PE ratio of 35.57 and a beta of 1.13. WisdomTree has a fifty-two week low of $7.47 and a fifty-two week high of $14.95.

WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.18. The business had revenue of $112.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $110.66 million. WisdomTree had a net margin of 16.25% and a return on equity of 25.17%. WisdomTree’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.16 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that WisdomTree will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

WisdomTree Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 13th were issued a $0.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. WisdomTree’s payout ratio is currently 30.77%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO R Jarrett Lilien sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.33, for a total transaction of $333,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,048,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,978,344.54. This trade represents a 2.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 9.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WisdomTree

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WT. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in WisdomTree by 729.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 40,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 35,526 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in shares of WisdomTree by 13.6% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 32,973 shares of the company’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 3,958 shares during the period. Tobam raised its stake in WisdomTree by 44.3% in the first quarter. Tobam now owns 55,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,000 after purchasing an additional 16,913 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its position in WisdomTree by 114.0% during the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 3,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 2,052 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in WisdomTree by 5.0% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 70,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $625,000 after buying an additional 3,359 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.64% of the company’s stock.

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.