Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Has $62.74 Million Stock Holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 132,393 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,630 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Watsco were worth $62,740,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Watsco by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,618,109 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,714,586,000 after purchasing an additional 52,127 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Watsco by 9.5% in the fourth 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 period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Watsco by 5.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,173,762 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $577,350,000 after acquiring an additional 65,846 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 63,254 shares during the period. Finally, Markel Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Watsco by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 590,500 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $279,832,000 after acquiring an additional 8,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSO opened at $500.42 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a 52-week low of $396.82 and a 52-week high of $571.42. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $496.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $498.18. The firm has a market cap of $20.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.77 and a beta of 0.92.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.24. The company 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 analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were given a dividend of $2.70 per share. This represents a $10.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. Watsco’s payout ratio is presently 81.51%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on WSO. Loop Capital raised 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. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Watsco from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Raymond James started coverage on shares of Watsco in a research report on Friday, January 17th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Watsco presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $486.25.

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.