The Goldman Sachs Group Has Lowered Expectations for WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) Stock Price

WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) had its price target lowered by The Goldman Sachs Group from $9.75 to $8.50 in a research note published on Monday,Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a sell rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on WT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of WisdomTree from $12.00 to $10.50 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of WisdomTree from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.96.

WisdomTree Stock Performance

NYSE:WT opened at $8.35 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.94 and a beta of 1.26. WisdomTree has a 1-year low of $7.47 and a 1-year high of $12.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 2.92 and a quick ratio of 2.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $8.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.95.

WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.02). WisdomTree had a return on equity of 24.67% and a net margin of 15.59%. On average, research analysts expect that WisdomTree will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WisdomTree Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were issued a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. WisdomTree’s payout ratio is 38.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WisdomTree

In other WisdomTree news, insider Alexis Marinof sold 90,980 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.87, for a total value of $897,972.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 221,146 shares in the company, valued at $2,182,711.02. This represents a 29.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of WisdomTree

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WT. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of WisdomTree by 1,778.5% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 2,650 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in WisdomTree by 173.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 2,405 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in WisdomTree by 310.5% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 5,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 3,981 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of WisdomTree by 60.7% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 4,705 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 1,777 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of WisdomTree during the 4th quarter worth about $60,000. 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.