WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Shares of WisdomTree, Inc. (NYSE:WT) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $19.62 and last traded at $19.3960, with a volume of 3371793 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.10.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $16.80 price target on shares of WisdomTree in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $18.00 price target on shares of WisdomTree in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of WisdomTree from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings cut shares of WisdomTree from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of WisdomTree from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.47.

WisdomTree Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 47.58 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 4.57, a quick ratio of 4.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.37. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.44.

WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 1st. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $159.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.96 million. WisdomTree had a net margin of 11.26% and a return on equity of 33.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 47.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.16 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that WisdomTree, Inc. will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

WisdomTree Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be given a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 13th. WisdomTree’s payout ratio is 29.27%.

Insider Activity at WisdomTree

In other news, insider David M. Yates sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.06, for a total transaction of $270,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 157,499 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,844,431.94. This trade represents a 8.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,140,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,201,725.80. The trade was a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 10.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of WisdomTree

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in WisdomTree by 4.1% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 203,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,962,000 after buying an additional 7,989 shares during the period. Globeflex Capital L P lifted its holdings in WisdomTree by 33.6% during the first quarter. Globeflex Capital L P now owns 136,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,988,000 after buying an additional 34,317 shares during the period. State of Wyoming lifted its holdings in WisdomTree by 18.5% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 57,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $833,000 after buying an additional 8,913 shares during the period. SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new stake in WisdomTree during the first quarter worth $175,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in WisdomTree by 14.9% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 985,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,349,000 after buying an additional 127,563 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.