Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) Shares Sold by Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC

Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC trimmed its stake in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 21.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,051 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 2,683 shares during the period. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC's holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $2,050,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its position 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 last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its position 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 last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 398,341 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $80,983,000 after buying an additional 40,738 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position 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 valued at $66,207,000 after buying an additional 1,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at $60,887,000. 95.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 7,000 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.85, for a total transaction of $1,692,950.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Monica Barry sold 768 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.40, for a total transaction of $188,467.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 6,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,530,314.40. This trade represents a 10.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 15,768 shares of company stock worth $3,841,417. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Watts Water Technologies Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:WTS opened at $251.63 on Friday. 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 fifty-two week low of $177.59 and a fifty-two week high of $260.93. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $244.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $219.96. The company has a market cap of $8.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.82, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.12.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.25. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 13.07% and a return on equity of 17.59%. The firm had revenue of $558.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $547.58 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.33 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. This is a boost from Watts Water Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Watts Water Technologies's payout ratio is presently 23.83%.

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.

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