ProShare Advisors LLC Has $9.09 Million Stock Holdings in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

ProShare Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 48.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 44,734 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 41,632 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $9,094,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 59.8% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 155 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 329.1% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 236 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 60.5% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 366 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 660.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 45.2% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 565 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. 95.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Watts Water Technologies news, insider Monica Barry sold 768 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $1,530,314.40. This represents a 10.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Elie Melhem sold 4,397 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.53, for a total value of $925,700.41. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,204,038.57. The trade was a 29.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 13,165 shares of company stock worth $3,074,168. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Watts Water Technologies Trading Up 1.3%

Watts Water Technologies stock opened at $244.35 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $208.48 and a 200-day moving average of $209.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.65. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $175.37 and a one year high of $248.17.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $558.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $547.58 million. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.08% and a net margin of 12.93%. The business’s revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. 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. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised Watts Water Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $219.00 to $229.00 in a research report 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 shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Watts Water Technologies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $222.00.

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.