Azora Capital LP Grows Stock Holdings in WisdomTree, Inc. $WT

Azora Capital LP boosted its stake in WisdomTree, Inc. (NYSE:WT) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,150,111 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 521,179 shares during the period. WisdomTree accounts for about 4.7% of Azora Capital LP’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Azora Capital LP owned about 4.37% of WisdomTree worth $74,970,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WT. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in WisdomTree by 2.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 456,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,076,000 after acquiring an additional 12,402 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in WisdomTree by 379.3% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 880,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,858,000 after acquiring an additional 697,156 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in WisdomTree by 35.5% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 301,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,466,000 after acquiring an additional 78,837 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in WisdomTree by 722.3% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 93,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,071,000 after acquiring an additional 81,725 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in WisdomTree by 20.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 482,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,551,000 after acquiring an additional 80,361 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.64% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider David M. Yates sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 157,499 shares in the company, valued at $2,844,431.94. This represents a 8.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO R Jarrett Lilien sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.99, for a total transaction of $569,700.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 1,110,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,083,552.55. This represents a 2.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 10.10% of the company’s stock.

WisdomTree Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of WT opened at $18.16 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $17.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.69. WisdomTree, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $10.10 and a fifty-two week high of $19.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.37, a quick ratio of 4.18 and a current ratio of 4.57. The firm has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.29 and a beta of 1.15.

WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.02. WisdomTree had a net margin of 11.26% and a return on equity of 33.31%. The company had revenue of $159.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.96 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 47.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that WisdomTree, Inc. will post 1.14 earnings per share for the current year.

WisdomTree Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. WisdomTree’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.27%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Northland Securities set a $22.00 price objective on shares of WisdomTree in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of WisdomTree from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of WisdomTree from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of WisdomTree from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of WisdomTree in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.80.

WisdomTree Company Profile

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.