Virtu Financial LLC Buys Shares of 1,907 Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,907 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $389,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 78,159 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $15,938,000 after purchasing an additional 795 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 124.5% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 24,273 shares of the technology company's stock worth $4,950,000 after buying an additional 13,460 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 13.9% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,869 shares of the technology company's stock worth $585,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 324,669 shares of the technology company's stock worth $66,207,000 after buying an additional 1,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 36,711.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 56,690 shares of the technology company's stock worth $11,560,000 after buying an additional 56,536 shares during the last quarter. 95.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Watts Water Technologies Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of WTS stock opened at $274.60 on Friday. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $177.59 and a 12-month high of $278.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $252.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $227.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.13.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The technology company reported $3.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.41. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.11% and a net margin of 13.63%. The firm had revenue of $643.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $612.15 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.46 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Watts Water Technologies's payout ratio is 22.37%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph T. Noonan sold 713 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.45, for a total value of $195,682.85. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,194 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $327,693.30. The trade was a 37.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 7,000 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.85, for a total value of $1,692,950.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WTS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Watts Water Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Northcoast Research downgraded Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Watts Water Technologies from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a report on Friday, August 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $245.50.

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.

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