XTX Topco Ltd Boosts Stock Position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

XTX Topco Ltd lifted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 37.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,301 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 1,180 shares during the quarter. XTX Topco Ltd's holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $877,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WTS. 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 valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 329.1% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 236 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 80.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 278 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 45.0% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 293 shares of the technology company's stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 108.4% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 323 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. 95.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on WTS. Northcoast Research lowered shares of Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $234.20.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of WTS stock traded down $4.00 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $259.74. The stock had a trading volume of 222,286 shares, compared to its average volume of 199,540. The firm has a market cap of $8.67 billion, a PE ratio of 29.78, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 1.13. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $177.59 and a fifty-two week high of $269.10. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $249.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $225.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.53.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The technology company reported $3.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.41. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 13.07%. The company had revenue of $643.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $612.15 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.46 earnings per share. Watts Water Technologies's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Watts Water Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 7,000 shares of Watts Water Technologies 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Monica Barry sold 768 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.40, for a total value of $188,467.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 6,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,530,314.40. The trade was a 10.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,768 shares of company stock valued at $3,841,417. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Watts Water Technologies Company 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.