Banco Santander S.A. Trims Holdings in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Banco Santander S.A. reduced its position in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,223 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 201 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $1,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 3,520 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 3.5% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 31,681 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,728,000 after acquiring an additional 1,081 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Watts Water Technologies during the first quarter valued at about $53,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Watts Water Technologies during the first quarter worth about $111,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 338,378 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $71,924,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Watts Water Technologies

In other news, CFO Shashank Patel sold 4,569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.10, for a total transaction of $955,377.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,635 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,269,278.50. The trade was a 22.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Monica Barry sold 1,559 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.52, for a total value of $331,318.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,463.60. This represents a 26.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,974 shares of company stock worth $6,924,594 in the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of WTS opened at $215.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 2.55 and a quick ratio of 1.55. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $175.37 and a 12-month high of $219.52. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $204.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $197.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.17 billion, a PE ratio of 25.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.90.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The business had revenue of $543.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $541.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.04 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WTS shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $217.00 to $202.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Watts Water Technologies from $225.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Northcoast Research raised Watts Water Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Watts Water Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $200.25.

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.