LPL Financial LLC Acquires 1,277 Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 20.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,459 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,277 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $1,517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 105.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 52,810 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,942,000 after purchasing an additional 27,138 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 2.5% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,390 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,117,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 11.1% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 4,616 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $993,000 after buying an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 6,312 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,308,000 after acquiring an additional 904 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 267,439 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $55,411,000 after acquiring an additional 12,159 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Watts Water Technologies

In related news, insider Elie Melhem sold 4,397 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.53, for a total transaction of $925,700.41. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,469 shares in the company, valued at $2,204,038.57. The trade was a 29.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WTS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Watts Water Technologies from $197.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Watts Water Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $219.00 to $229.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.00.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of WTS opened at $197.32 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.57 billion, a PE ratio of 22.71, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $206.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $207.09. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $175.37 and a 12 month high of $232.60.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The technology company reported $2.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.14. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.93% and a return on equity of 18.08%. On average, analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 19.79%.

Watts Water Technologies Company Profile

Watts Water Technologies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, supplies products and solutions that manage and conserve the flow of fluids and energy into, through, and out of buildings in the commercial, industrial, and residential markets in the Americas, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa.