DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Sells 1,221 Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale decreased its position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 2.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,840 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 1,221 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned approximately 0.13% of Watts Water Technologies worth $8,961,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WTS. EULAV Asset Management increased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 5.1% during the first quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 79,747 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $16,262,000 after buying an additional 3,900 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 8.2% during the first quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,380 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $485,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 3.0% during the first quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,248 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,070,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 1.0% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 78,159 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $15,938,000 after buying an additional 795 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.5% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 324,669 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $66,207,000 after buying an additional 1,662 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WTS. Northcoast Research cut shares of Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $275.00 price target on shares of Watts Water Technologies and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Four investment 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 stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $231.20.

Insider Transactions at Watts Water Technologies

In other news, insider Monica Barry sold 768 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.40, for a total value of $188,467.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 6,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,530,314.40. This represents a 10.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Shashank Patel sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was 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 owned 2,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $674,730. This represents a 74.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,768 shares of company stock worth $3,841,417. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Down 1.5%

WTS traded down $3.76 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $254.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 217,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 174,621. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.14, a PEG ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $177.59 and a 1 year high of $260.93. The stock's 50-day moving average is $242.38 and its 200-day moving average is $218.72.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $558.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $547.58 million. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 13.07% and a return on equity of 17.59%. The business's revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.33 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This is an increase from Watts Water Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Watts Water Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.83%.

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.