Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) Position Boosted by AE Wealth Management LLC

AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 13.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 121,178 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,999 shares during the quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC owned approximately 0.36% of Watts Water Technologies worth $24,711,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTS. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position 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 valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its position in Watts Water Technologies by 329.1% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 236 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Watts Water Technologies by 80.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 278 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Watts Water Technologies by 45.0% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Watts Water Technologies by 108.4% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 323 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. 95.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:WTS traded up $0.66 during trading on Friday, hitting $252.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 92,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 178,142. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 2.46. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $177.59 and a fifty-two week high of $260.93. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $246.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $221.99. The company has a market capitalization of $8.43 billion, a PE ratio of 28.94, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.12.

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

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. This is a boost from Watts Water Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Watts Water Technologies's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on WTS. Northcoast Research downgraded Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Watts Water Technologies from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $234.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Watts Water Technologies

In other Watts Water Technologies news, 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 transaction of $1,960,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 2,754 shares in the company, valued at $674,730. This represents a 74.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were 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 have sold 15,768 shares of company stock worth $3,841,417 over the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Watts Water Technologies 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.