Bessemer Group Inc. Has $1.43 Million Position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Bessemer Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 20.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,005 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 1,821 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.'s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $1,428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WTS. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 57.3% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 225 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 329.1% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 236 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 80.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 278 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 45.0% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 108.4% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 323 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.02% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Watts Water Technologies

In other news, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.85, for a total transaction of $1,692,950.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Shashank Patel sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $1,960,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,768 shares of company stock worth $3,841,417. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $275.00 target price on shares of Watts Water Technologies and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $231.20.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

NYSE:WTS opened at $246.41 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $8.23 billion, a PE ratio of 28.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.13. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $175.37 and a 12 month high of $249.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company's 50-day moving average price is $232.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $215.74.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 13.07% and a return on equity of 17.59%. The company had revenue of $558.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $547.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.33 earnings per share. Watts Water Technologies's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. This is a positive change from Watts Water Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. Watts Water Technologies's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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