Watsco, Inc. $WSO Shares Bought by Assetmark Inc.

Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 51.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 994 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 339 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Watsco were worth $439,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WSO. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Watsco by 62.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 468,875 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $238,329,000 after acquiring an additional 180,951 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in Watsco during the first quarter worth approximately $54,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Watsco by 6.0% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,454,512 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $739,088,000 after purchasing an additional 82,977 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Watsco in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,218,000. Finally, Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Watsco by 81.8% in the second quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 120,000 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $52,994,000 after buying an additional 54,000 shares in the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WSO shares. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Zacks Research cut shares of Watsco from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Watsco from $425.00 to $390.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Watsco from $400.00 to $360.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Watsco from $505.00 to $460.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Watsco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $435.00.

Watsco Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE WSO opened at $351.96 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $14.27 billion, a PE ratio of 27.50 and a beta of 0.93. Watsco, Inc. has a 12-month low of $344.52 and a 12-month high of $571.41. The company has a 50-day moving average of $382.83 and a 200 day moving average of $425.98.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The construction company reported $3.98 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter. Watsco had a net margin of 7.04% and a return on equity of 16.48%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 16th were paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 16th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Watsco’s payout ratio is 93.75%.

Watsco Profile

Watsco, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the distribution of air conditioning, heating, refrigeration equipment, and related parts and supplies in the United States and internationally. The company distributes equipment, including residential ducted and ductless air conditioners, such as gas, electric, and oil furnaces; commercial air conditioning and heating equipment systems; and other specialized equipment.