Millennium Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Millennium Management LLC cut its stake in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 77.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,542 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 74,069 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned about 0.06% of Watts Water Technologies worth $4,379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 319,703 shares of the technology company's stock worth $64,996,000 after purchasing an additional 3,296 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 71,608 shares of the technology company's stock worth $14,558,000 after buying an additional 8,728 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 35.2% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 23,507 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,779,000 after buying an additional 6,125 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 82,225 shares of the technology company's stock worth $16,716,000 after acquiring an additional 7,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EULAV Asset Management boosted its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 75,847 shares of the technology company's stock worth $15,420,000 after acquiring an additional 4,200 shares in the last quarter. 95.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Watts Water Technologies

In other Watts Water Technologies news, insider Monica Barry sold 768 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.40, for a total transaction of $188,467.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,530,314.40. This trade represents a 10.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available 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 value of $1,960,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,754 shares in the company, valued at $674,730. This trade represents a 74.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,165 shares of company stock valued at $3,074,168 in the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of WTS traded down $0.17 on Friday, reaching $242.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 220,448 shares, compared to its average volume of 175,754. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.90, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.65. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $214.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $211.85. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $175.37 and a 12-month high of $248.17.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $547.58 million. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.93% and a return on equity of 18.08%. The company's revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.33 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.52 dividend. This is a positive change from Watts Water Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Watts Water Technologies's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WTS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $197.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Northcoast Research lowered Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Watts Water Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $219.00 to $229.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Watts Water Technologies presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $222.00.

About Watts Water Technologies

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.