Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) Shares Bought by Exchange Traded Concepts LLC

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 468.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,039 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,152 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC's holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $1,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 316,407 shares of the technology company's stock worth $65,556,000 after purchasing an additional 9,148 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 40.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 17,382 shares of the technology company's stock worth $3,484,000 after buying an additional 4,967 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Watts Water Technologies by 4.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 267,439 shares of the technology company's stock worth $55,411,000 after buying an additional 12,159 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 977,000 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $202,425,000 after buying an additional 8,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, North Growth Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. North Growth Management Ltd. now owns 41,000 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $8,431,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the period. 95.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Watts Water Technologies Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:WTS traded down $0.88 on Friday, reaching $206.40. The stock had a trading volume of 265,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 107,767. 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 cap of $6.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.93. The firm's fifty day moving average is $209.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $202.74. 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 (NYSE:WTS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 18.49%. Watts Water Technologies's revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.04 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Watts Water Technologies

In related news, General Counsel Kenneth Robert Lepage sold 2,607 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.72, for a total transaction of $554,561.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 11,457 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,437,133.04. This represents a 18.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,635 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,269,278.50. This represents a 22.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,974 shares of company stock worth $6,924,594. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on WTS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Watts Water Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $240.00 price objective for the company. Northcoast Research upgraded Watts Water Technologies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $202.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $220.50.

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.