Blair William & Co. IL Trims Position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Blair William & Co. IL lowered its stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 770,936 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 14,109 shares during the quarter. Watsco comprises about 1.1% of Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Watsco were worth $365,339,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSO. FMR LLC grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 346,470 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,618,109 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,714,586,000 after purchasing an additional 52,127 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Watsco by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,371,535 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $649,957,000 after buying an additional 118,713 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Watsco by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,173,762 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $577,350,000 after buying an additional 65,846 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Watsco by 9.9% during the 3rd 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Trading Down 0.9 %

WSO stock opened at $513.40 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $495.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $497.75. Watsco, Inc. has a 52 week low of $396.82 and a 52 week high of $571.42. The company has a market cap of $20.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.75 and a beta of 0.92.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 7.04%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were given a $2.70 dividend. This represents a $10.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WSO shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Watsco from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Raymond James started coverage on Watsco in a report on Friday, January 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Loop Capital increased their target price on Watsco from $450.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Watsco currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $486.25.

Watsco Company 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.