JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Holdings in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 267,439 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,159 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.80% of Watts Water Technologies worth $55,411,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Andina Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 3.3% in the third quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,496 shares of the technology company's stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,238 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,085,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,272 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $471,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,043 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.02% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WTS shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Watts Water Technologies in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $240.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Northcoast Research raised Watts Water Technologies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $220.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Shashank Patel sold 4,569 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 15,635 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,269,278.50. This represents a 22.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Monica Barry sold 1,559 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was 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 owns 4,430 shares in the company, valued at $941,463.60. This represents a 26.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,974 shares of company stock valued at $6,924,594. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

WTS traded up $2.60 during trading on Friday, reaching $203.18. The stock had a trading volume of 90,849 shares, compared to its average volume of 101,024. The business has a 50-day moving average of $208.78 and a 200-day moving average of $199.68. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $175.37 and a one year high of $222.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.55. The stock has a market cap of $6.77 billion, a PE ratio of 24.36, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.93.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $543.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $541.83 million. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 12.37%. The company's revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.04 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Watts Water Technologies's payout ratio is 20.62%.

Watts Water Technologies Company 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.