Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) Shares Sold by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas trimmed its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 17.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 32,938 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 6,828 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.10% of Watts Water Technologies worth $6,717,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WTS. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 7,950 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,616,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 12,410 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,541,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 57.3% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 225 shares of the technology company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 2.7% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 3,207 shares of the technology company's stock worth $653,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,208 shares of the technology company's stock worth $652,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. 95.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

Shares of Watts Water Technologies stock traded up $2.58 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $252.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,406 shares, compared to its average volume of 173,099. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $175.37 and a 12-month high of $255.71. The company has a market capitalization of $8.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $238.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $217.48.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.25. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 13.07%. The company had revenue of $558.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $547.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.33 earnings per share. Watts Water Technologies's quarterly revenue 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 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Watts Water Technologies

In related news, CFO Shashank Patel sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $674,730. This represents a 74.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Monica Barry sold 768 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.40, for a total value of $188,467.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 6,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,530,314.40. This represents a 10.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,768 shares of company stock worth $3,841,417. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.