Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) Shares Acquired by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 36,711.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 56,690 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 56,536 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC owned about 0.17% of Watts Water Technologies worth $11,560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WTS. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,463,375 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $500,804,000 after buying an additional 386,333 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $60,887,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 85.1% in the 4th quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 422,026 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $85,798,000 after buying an additional 194,033 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $23,044,000. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,773,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.02% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Watts Water Technologies news, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.85, for a total transaction of $1,692,950.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Shashank Patel sold 8,000 shares of the business'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 value of $1,960,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 2,754 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $674,730. This trade 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 sold 15,768 shares of company stock worth $3,841,417. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

Shares of Watts Water Technologies stock traded down $0.54 on Wednesday, hitting $244.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 248,443 shares, compared to its average volume of 174,942. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 2.59. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $175.37 and a 1 year high of $248.17. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $220.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $213.61. The company has a market capitalization of $8.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.13.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $558.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $547.58 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.33 EPS. Watts Water Technologies's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is a positive change from Watts Water Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Watts Water Technologies's payout ratio is 23.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised Watts Water Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $219.00 to $229.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Northcoast Research cut Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Watts Water Technologies from $197.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Watts Water Technologies presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $222.00.

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.