Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Has $621,000 Stock Holdings in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Key Points

• Empirical Financial Services LLC reduced its stake in Watsco, Inc. by 35.4%, owning 1,407 shares worth $621,000 at the end of the quarter.
• Watsco, Inc. reported $4.52 earnings per share for the last quarter, missing estimates, while revenue also fell 3.6% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $3.00 per share, set to be paid on October 31, with an annualized yield of 2.9%.

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management trimmed its stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO - Free Report) by 35.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,407 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 771 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings in Watsco were worth $621,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Watsco by 62.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 468,875 shares of the construction company's stock worth $238,329,000 after buying an additional 180,951 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Watsco in the 1st quarter valued at about $54,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Watsco by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,454,512 shares of the construction company's stock worth $739,088,000 after purchasing an additional 82,977 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Watsco during the 1st quarter worth about $41,218,000. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in shares of Watsco by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 814,712 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $414,118,000 after purchasing an additional 43,776 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company's stock.

Watsco Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE:WSO opened at $415.70 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $410.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $448.50. The stock has a market cap of $16.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.88 and a beta of 0.94. Watsco, Inc. has a 1-year low of $378.35 and a 1-year high of $571.41.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The construction company reported $4.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.84 by ($0.32). Watsco had a return on equity of 16.96% and a net margin of 7.08%.The firm had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.49 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 16th will be given a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 16th. Watsco's dividend payout ratio is presently 92.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WSO shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $505.00 target price on Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Watsco from $450.00 to $425.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Watsco presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $480.00.

Watsco Profile

Watsco, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the distribution of air conditioning, heating, refrigeration equipment, and related parts and supplies in the United States and internationally. The company distributes equipment, including residential ducted and ductless air conditioners, such as gas, electric, and oil furnaces; commercial air conditioning and heating equipment systems; and other specialized equipment.

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