Blue Trust Inc. Sells 256 Shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Blue Trust Inc. cut its position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 48.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 271 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 256 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Watsco were worth $128,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Watsco by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,624,159 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,782,651,000 after acquiring an additional 346,470 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Watsco by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,252,822 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $616,357,000 after purchasing an additional 62,041 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Watsco by 5.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,173,762 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $577,350,000 after purchasing an additional 65,846 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Watsco by 9.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 704,330 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $345,783,000 after buying an additional 63,254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Markel Group Inc. raised its stake in Watsco by 2.0% in the third quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 582,500 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $286,520,000 after buying an additional 11,250 shares during the period. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James began coverage on Watsco in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Northcoast Research began coverage on Watsco in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Watsco from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $495.00.

Insider Activity at Watsco

In other Watsco news, EVP Barry S. Logan sold 10,998 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.21, for a total transaction of $5,589,293.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 12.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Watsco Trading Down 3.3 %

Watsco stock opened at $498.12 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a 12 month low of $380.58 and a 12 month high of $571.41. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $484.75 and its 200-day moving average is $492.16. The company has a market capitalization of $20.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.59 and a beta of 0.95.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.24. Watsco had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 7.04%. The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a $2.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $10.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.51%.

Watsco 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.