Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 44,865 Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 547,153 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 44,865 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 1.64% of Watts Water Technologies worth $113,994,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,188,071 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $550,962,000 after buying an additional 29,113 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 6.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 292,299 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $50,515,000 after buying an additional 18,213 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 264,438 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $55,093,000 after purchasing an additional 1,774 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 184,615 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,905,000 after purchasing an additional 840 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.9% in the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 96,134 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $16,614,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Elie Melhem sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.50, for a total transaction of $498,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,564 shares in the company, valued at $2,706,018. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Michael J. Dubose sold 329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.91, for a total transaction of $65,112.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,392 shares in the company, valued at $473,400.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Elie Melhem sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.50, for a total value of $498,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,706,018. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,113 shares of company stock worth $1,023,106 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WTS shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Watts Water Technologies from $206.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Watts Water Technologies from $191.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $191.20.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of Watts Water Technologies stock opened at $203.36 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $204.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $198.69. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $156.85 and a 12 month high of $219.52.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 12th. The technology company reported $1.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $547.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $532.58 million. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 19.38% and a net margin of 12.75%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.60 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.41%.

Watts Water Technologies Company 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.