Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Has $58.21 Million Holdings in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 15.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 279,397 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 37,452 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 0.84% of Watts Water Technologies worth $58,210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WTS. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 47.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 174 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,013 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 34,277 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $7,141,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 50.3% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 281 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,430 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $765,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. 95.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on WTS. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $206.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Watts Water Technologies from $212.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Watts Water Technologies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $199.50.

Insider Activity at Watts Water Technologies

In other Watts Water Technologies news, CFO Shashank Patel sold 1,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.10, for a total value of $324,370.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,345,880.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Watts Water Technologies news, CFO Shashank Patel sold 1,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.10, for a total value of $324,370.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,345,880.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Elie Melhem sold 2,051 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.51, for a total value of $442,011.01. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,850,335.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,753 shares of company stock valued at $1,236,753 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

Shares of Watts Water Technologies stock opened at $187.44 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $202.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $202.87. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $167.87 and a twelve month high of $219.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The technology company reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.22. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.53% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The company had revenue of $570.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $547.20 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.92 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.64 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st were given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. This is a boost from Watts Water Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.34%.

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.