4,042 Shares in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) Acquired by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,042 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $822,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 59.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 155 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 60.5% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 366 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 660.3% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 555 shares of the technology company's stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 45.2% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 565 shares of the technology company's stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. 95.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WTS shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised Watts Water Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $219.00 to $229.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Watts Water Technologies from $197.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Northcoast Research cut Watts Water Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Watts Water Technologies presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $222.00.

Insider Activity 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 dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $1,960,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 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 hyperlink. Also, insider Monica Barry sold 768 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.40, for a total value of $188,467.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,530,314.40. This represents a 10.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,165 shares of company stock worth $3,074,168. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WTS traded up $3.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $244.35. 223,733 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 174,891. The company has a market cap of $8.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 2.59. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $175.37 and a one year high of $248.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $208.48 and a 200 day moving average of $209.27.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $558.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $547.58 million. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.08% and a net margin of 12.93%. Watts Water Technologies's revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 is 23.83%.

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.