Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Sells 577 Shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 7.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,410 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 577 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Watsco were worth $3,201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. First PREMIER Bank acquired a new position in shares of Watsco in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on WSO shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Watsco from $420.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Watsco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $404.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Watsco

In other Watsco news, EVP Barry S. Logan sold 774 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.85, for a total transaction of $366,759.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $838,714.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Barry S. Logan sold 774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.85, for a total transaction of $366,759.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $838,714.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John Alexander Macdonald sold 5,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.41, for a total transaction of $2,487,830.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 12.86% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE WSO opened at $463.24 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $468.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $429.64. The firm has a market cap of $18.67 billion, a PE ratio of 35.63 and a beta of 0.88. Watsco, Inc. has a 1 year low of $337.58 and a 1 year high of $493.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 2.92 and a quick ratio of 1.31.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 7.03% and a return on equity of 19.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.83 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.26 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were given a dividend of $2.70 per share. This represents a $10.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. This is an increase from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.08%.

Watsco Company Profile

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.