WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) Price Target Raised to $9.25 at Morgan Stanley

WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) had its price objective hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $7.75 to $9.25 in a report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on WT. Craig Hallum started coverage on WisdomTree in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. They set a buy rating and a $12.00 price target for the company. Northcoast Research raised WisdomTree from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $9.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, December 28th. Northland Securities raised WisdomTree from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $12.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Oppenheimer increased their price target on WisdomTree from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on WisdomTree from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WisdomTree presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $11.04.

WisdomTree Price Performance

WT stock opened at $8.73 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.43 and a beta of 1.49. WisdomTree has a twelve month low of $6.05 and a twelve month high of $9.69. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $90.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.32 million. WisdomTree had a return on equity of 15.15% and a net margin of 29.38%. The company’s revenue was up 23.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.04 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that WisdomTree will post 0.51 EPS for the current year.

WisdomTree Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 14th were issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 13th. WisdomTree’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WisdomTree

In other WisdomTree news, CEO Jonathan L. Steinberg bought 303,781 shares of WisdomTree stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $7.20 per share, with a total value of $2,187,223.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 9,172,838 shares in the company, valued at $66,044,433.60. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 7.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WisdomTree

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WT. Vanguard Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of WisdomTree in the third quarter valued at $103,908,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in shares of WisdomTree in the third quarter valued at $34,737,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of WisdomTree in the third quarter valued at $26,291,000. Toroso Investments LLC purchased a new stake in WisdomTree during the 3rd quarter worth about $11,022,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp purchased a new stake in WisdomTree during the 3rd quarter worth about $10,407,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.64% of the company’s stock.

About WisdomTree

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.