JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 267,439 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,159 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $55,411,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WTS. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 29,473 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 977,000 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $202,425,000 after purchasing an additional 8,314 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 741,743 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $153,708,000 after purchasing an additional 30,688 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $107,738,000 after buying an additional 6,742 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 195,778 shares during the last quarter. 95.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Watts Water Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $240.00 price target for the company. Northcoast Research raised 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $202.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $220.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Watts Water Technologies news, General Counsel Kenneth Robert Lepage sold 3,429 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.65, for a total transaction of $667,454.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 14,064 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,737,557.60. This trade represents a 19.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Shashank Patel sold 4,569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.10, for a total transaction of $955,377.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,269,278.50. The trade was a 22.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,974 shares of company stock worth $6,924,594. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE WTS opened at $203.18 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.77 billion, a PE ratio of 24.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.93. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $208.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $199.60. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $175.37 and a fifty-two week high of $222.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $543.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $541.83 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.04 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Watts Water Technologies’s payout ratio is 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.