B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 39.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 996 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 640 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $208,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTS. Congress Asset Management Co. MA purchased a new position in Watts Water Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at $125,904,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Watts Water Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at $61,513,000. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE purchased a new position in Watts Water Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at $13,284,000. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new position in Watts Water Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at $10,866,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 295,748 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $61,616,000 after purchasing an additional 38,110 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on 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 research report on Friday, May 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $199.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Watts Water Technologies news, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 2,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.39, for a total transaction of $470,371.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $601,578.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Watts Water Technologies news, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 2,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.39, for a total transaction of $470,371.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $601,578.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Shashank Patel sold 1,508 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,345,880.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,753 shares of company stock worth $1,236,753. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

NYSE WTS opened at $183.37 on Friday. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $167.87 and a one year high of $219.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $199.63 and a 200 day moving average of $202.11. The company has a market capitalization of $6.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.75, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.48.

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

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st were issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. This is an increase from Watts Water Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. 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.