Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Buys 15,150 Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 9.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 183,479 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,150 shares during the period. Watts Water Technologies makes up 1.8% of Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC owned 0.55% of Watts Water Technologies worth $37,415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WTS. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 35.2% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 23,507 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,779,000 after buying an additional 6,125 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new stake in Watts Water Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at $1,273,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 77,364 shares of the technology company's stock worth $15,728,000 after acquiring an additional 994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,584 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $525,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the period. 95.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Monica Barry sold 768 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were 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 directly owns 6,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,530,314.40. This trade represents a 10.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.85, for a total transaction of $1,692,950.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,768 shares of company stock worth $3,841,417 in the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Watts Water Technologies Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE WTS traded down $1.17 during trading on Friday, hitting $239.88. The company had a trading volume of 357,368 shares, compared to its average volume of 176,251. The company's fifty day moving average is $227.23 and its 200-day moving average is $214.64. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $175.37 and a one year high of $248.17. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a market cap of $8.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 1.13.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 earnings per share (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 company 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 company earned $2.33 earnings per share. Watts Water Technologies's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This is a boost from Watts Water Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Watts Water Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on WTS. Northcoast Research downgraded shares of Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $275.00 price target on Watts Water Technologies and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Watts Water Technologies presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $231.20.

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.