BNP Paribas Financial Markets Has $2.63 Million Stake in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lowered its stake in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 52.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,917 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 14,279 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets' holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $2,626,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Watts Water Technologies by 59.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 155 shares of the technology company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 329.1% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 236 shares of the technology company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 366 shares of the technology company's stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 660.3% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 555 shares of the technology company's stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 45.2% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 565 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. 95.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Monica Barry sold 768 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.40, for a total value of $188,467.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,530,314.40. This trade represents a 10.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Shashank Patel sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $1,960,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,754 shares in the company, valued at $674,730. This represents a 74.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 13,165 shares of company stock valued at $3,074,168. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WTS shares. Northcoast Research lowered Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. 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, April 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $197.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $222.00.

Watts Water Technologies Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:WTS traded down $0.74 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $237.28. 9,260 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 175,012. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.08. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $175.37 and a one year high of $248.17. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $210.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $210.19. 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 (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.25. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.08% and a net margin of 12.93%. The company had revenue of $558.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $547.58 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.33 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. This is an increase from Watts Water Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Watts Water Technologies's payout ratio is 23.83%.

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.