Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) Director Sells $2,487,830.94 in Stock

Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) Director John Alexander Macdonald sold 5,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.41, for a total value of $2,487,830.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Watsco Stock Performance

WSO opened at $484.45 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $431.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $408.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.92, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market cap of $19.14 billion, a PE ratio of 37.27 and a beta of 0.86. Watsco, Inc. has a 1 year low of $315.17 and a 1 year high of $487.74.

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

Watsco Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a $2.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. This is a boost from Watsco’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.45. This represents a $10.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Institutional Trading of Watsco

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Watsco by 100.0% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 58 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Watsco in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. First PREMIER Bank acquired a new position in shares of Watsco during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Watsco during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new position in Watsco in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

About Watsco

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.