WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on WT. Wall Street Zen cut WisdomTree from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Northland Securities set a $20.00 target price on shares of WisdomTree in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of WisdomTree from $14.00 to $15.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of WisdomTree in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of WisdomTree from $16.75 to $16.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.40.

WisdomTree Trading Down 0.0%

WisdomTree stock opened at $14.47 on Tuesday. WisdomTree has a 52 week low of $7.47 and a 52 week high of $17.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a PE ratio of 19.29 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.77.

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

WisdomTree Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 11th were issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 11th. WisdomTree’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO R Jarrett Lilien sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.84, for a total value of $505,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,140,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,201,725.80. This trade represents a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 9.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WisdomTree

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WT. Sowell Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of WisdomTree by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 11,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,000 after buying an additional 680 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in WisdomTree by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 20,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 778 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group increased its stake in WisdomTree by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 12,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 799 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in WisdomTree by 3.4% in the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 27,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in WisdomTree by 9.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 12,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,068 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.64% of the company’s stock.

About WisdomTree

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.