Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 702 Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC cut its stake in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,017 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 702 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $2,697,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WTS. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Gradient Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the first quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 520.5% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 273 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the period. 95.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Northcoast Research upgraded Watts Water Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Watts Water Technologies from $217.00 to $202.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $225.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $200.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert J. Pagano, Jr. sold 20,810 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.20, for a total transaction of $4,415,882.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 176,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,356,749. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Michael J. Dubose sold 315 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.93, for a total value of $58,567.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,755 shares in the company, valued at approximately $512,237.15. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert J. Pagano, Jr. sold 20,810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.20, for a total transaction of $4,415,882.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 176,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,356,749. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,999 shares of company stock worth $7,299,786 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

WTS stock opened at $211.98 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.07 billion, a PE ratio of 25.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.90. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $175.37 and a 12-month high of $219.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $201.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $197.19.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $543.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $541.83 million. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 12.37%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.04 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.62%.

About Watts Water Technologies

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.