Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 240 Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lessened its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 2.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,645 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 240 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $1,791,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 741,743 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $153,708,000 after purchasing an additional 30,688 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 3.4% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,272 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $471,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 105.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 52,810 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,942,000 after acquiring an additional 27,138 shares in the last quarter. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the third quarter valued at about $695,000. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment increased its position in Watts Water Technologies by 4.6% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 47,339 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $9,808,000 after acquiring an additional 2,101 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Monica Barry sold 1,559 shares of the company’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 transaction of $331,318.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,430 shares in the company, valued at $941,463.60. This represents a 26.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Kenneth Robert Lepage sold 2,607 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.72, for a total transaction of $554,561.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 11,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,437,133.04. The trade was a 18.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,974 shares of company stock worth $6,924,594 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Watts Water Technologies Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Watts Water Technologies stock opened at $218.67 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $175.37 and a 12-month high of $222.70. The company has a market capitalization of $7.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.22, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $208.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $198.31.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $541.83 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WTS. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Watts Water Technologies from $202.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th.

About Watts Water Technologies

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.