HighTower Advisors LLC Has $1.27 Million Position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,141 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 251 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $1,265,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WTS. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its position in Watts Water Technologies by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,050,215 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $375,948,000 after purchasing an additional 29,473 shares in the last quarter. Mirova US LLC increased its position in Watts Water Technologies by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 715,674 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $131,233,000 after purchasing an additional 15,462 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Watts Water Technologies by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 587,538 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $107,738,000 after purchasing an additional 6,742 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in Watts Water Technologies by 60.3% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 520,189 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $107,778,000 after purchasing an additional 195,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Watts Water Technologies by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 316,407 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $65,556,000 after purchasing an additional 9,148 shares in the last quarter. 95.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WTS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $202.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert J. Pagano, Jr. sold 20,810 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.20, for a total transaction of $4,415,882.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 176,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,356,749. This represents a 10.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Shashank Patel sold 4,569 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.10, for a total transaction of $955,377.90. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,635 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,269,278.50. This represents a 22.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 32,974 shares of company stock valued at $6,924,594. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Watts Water Technologies Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE WTS opened at $218.67 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.55. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $175.37 and a 52-week high of $222.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $208.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $198.31. The stock has a market cap of $7.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.92.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.04. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The company had revenue of $543.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $541.83 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.04 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.62%.

Watts Water Technologies 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.