Boston Trust Walden Corp Sells 58,692 Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. $WTS

Boston Trust Walden Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 13.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 379,024 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 58,692 shares during the period. Watts Water Technologies comprises approximately 0.9% of Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $110,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 2.2% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 907,336 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $253,211,000 after acquiring an additional 19,247 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 832,148 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $229,721,000 after purchasing an additional 25,501 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 522,624 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $144,261,000 after buying an additional 1,418 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 34.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 469,508 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $131,124,000 after buying an additional 120,090 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Watts Water Technologies in the fourth quarter worth about $100,627,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WTS has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings cut Watts Water Technologies from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $358.00 price target on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a research note on Friday, May 8th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Watts Water Technologies from $275.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $379.00 target price on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $318.00 to $323.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $338.20.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

WTS stock opened at $368.69 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.31 billion, a PE ratio of 33.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.14. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $242.77 and a 12-month high of $394.54. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $319.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $306.97.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The technology company reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.72 by $0.32. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.92% and a net margin of 14.32%.The business had revenue of $677.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $638.13 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.37 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Watts Water Technologies’s payout ratio is 23.06%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Elie Melhem sold 2,257 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.00, for a total value of $679,357.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,963 shares in the company, valued at $2,697,863. The trade was a 20.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Michael J. Dubose sold 398 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.63, for a total transaction of $123,232.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $561,668.82. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Watts Water Technologies Company Profile

Watts Water Technologies, Inc is a global manufacturer and distributor of flow control products and solutions designed to ensure the safe, efficient delivery and use of water. Founded in 1874 and headquartered in North Andover, Massachusetts, the company has built a reputation for engineering innovation in residential, commercial and industrial plumbing, heating, cooling and water treatment systems. Watts operates through a comprehensive portfolio of brands and product lines that address application-specific requirements in water safety, pressure regulation, flow control and filtration.

The company’s product offerings span backflow preventers, pressure reducing valves, relief valves and steam traps, as well as hydronic balancing and temperature control devices for heating systems.