Blair William & Co. IL Trims Holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Blair William & Co. IL lowered its position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 770,936 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 14,109 shares during the quarter. Watsco comprises approximately 1.1% of Blair William & Co. IL's portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Blair William & Co. IL owned approximately 1.91% of Watsco worth $365,339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Watsco by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,624,159 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,782,651,000 after purchasing an additional 346,470 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Watsco during the fourth quarter valued at about $63,603,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Watsco by 9.5% during 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 last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Watsco by 2,128.1% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 107,463 shares of the construction company's stock worth $52,880,000 after buying an additional 102,640 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Watsco by 5.9% in the 3rd 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital raised their price target on Watsco from $450.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Watsco from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Raymond James began coverage on shares of Watsco in a report on Friday, January 17th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Watsco has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $486.25.

Watsco Price Performance

NYSE:WSO traded up $3.11 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $504.99. The company had a trading volume of 85,324 shares, compared to its average volume of 251,915. The company has a market capitalization of $20.40 billion, a PE ratio of 38.11 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $496.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $498.74. Watsco, Inc. has a 52 week low of $396.82 and a 52 week high of $571.42.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.24. Watsco had a net margin of 7.04% and a return on equity of 17.59%. The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a dividend of $2.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $10.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Watsco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.51%.

Watsco Profile

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.