DAVENPORT & Co LLC Trims Stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

DAVENPORT & Co LLC reduced its position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO - Free Report) by 13.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 382,366 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 61,421 shares during the period. Watsco makes up 1.1% of DAVENPORT & Co LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. DAVENPORT & Co LLC owned about 0.97% of Watsco worth $163,846,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Advisor OS LLC grew its position in Watsco by 1.1% in the third quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 2,693 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,017,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Watsco by 35.0% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 108 shares of the construction company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Watsco by 2.4% in the second quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,302 shares of the construction company's stock worth $497,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in Watsco by 0.4% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 9,117 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,444,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Watsco by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 611 shares of the construction company's stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on WSO. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Watsco from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 11th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Watsco from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Watsco from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $387.00 to $500.00 in a research note on Friday, December 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Watsco currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $396.00.

Watsco Trading Down 1.6 %

WSO stock traded down $6.89 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $427.28. The company had a trading volume of 244,216 shares, compared to its average volume of 351,253. Watsco, Inc. has a 52 week low of $298.79 and a 52 week high of $441.29. The company has a market cap of $16.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.28, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50 day moving average of $402.00 and a 200 day moving average of $393.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 3.36 and a quick ratio of 1.47.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The construction company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.50 by ($0.44). The company had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 21.36% and a net margin of 7.36%. Watsco's quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.35 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $2.70 dividend. This represents a $10.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This is a boost from Watsco's previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Watsco's dividend payout ratio is 71.74%.

About Watsco

Watsco, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the distribution of air conditioning, heating, refrigeration equipment, and related parts and supplies in the United States and internationally. The company distributes equipment, including residential ducted and ductless air conditioners, such as gas, electric, and oil furnaces; commercial air conditioning and heating equipment systems; and other specialized equipment.

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