Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Sells 142 Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 12.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,045 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 142 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $213,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,463,375 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $500,804,000 after purchasing an additional 386,333 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at $60,887,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 85.1% in the 4th quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 422,026 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $85,798,000 after acquiring an additional 194,033 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Watts Water Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at about $23,044,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Watts Water Technologies by 36,711.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 56,690 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,560,000 after purchasing an additional 56,536 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Monica Barry sold 768 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.40, for a total value of $188,467.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 6,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,530,314.40. This represents a 10.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Timothy P. Horne sold 7,000 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.85, for a total transaction of $1,692,950.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,768 shares of company stock worth $3,841,417 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

WTS stock opened at $244.74 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $220.79 and a 200-day moving average of $213.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.13. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $175.37 and a 12 month high of $248.17. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $558.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $547.58 million. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.93% and a return on equity of 18.08%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. This is a boost from Watts Water Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Watts Water Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 23.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WTS. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $219.00 to $229.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Northcoast Research cut shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Watts Water Technologies from $197.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $222.00.

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.