Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) Shares Bought by State Street Corp

State Street Corp increased its holdings in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 977,000 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,314 shares during the period. State Street Corp owned 2.93% of Watts Water Technologies worth $202,425,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Watts Water Technologies by 3.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 316,407 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $65,556,000 after acquiring an additional 9,148 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position 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 valued at $3,484,000 after buying an additional 4,967 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 64.9% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 71,555 shares of the technology company's stock worth $13,121,000 after buying an additional 28,170 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the second quarter worth $2,897,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 171.7% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 139,100 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $25,507,000 after acquiring an additional 87,900 shares during the period. 95.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Watts Water Technologies from $202.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. Northcoast Research upgraded Watts Water Technologies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Watts Water Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Down 0.8 %

WTS stock traded down $1.77 during trading on Friday, reaching $218.59. The stock had a trading volume of 27,643 shares, compared to its average volume of 144,459. The company has a current ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $208.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $198.13. The company has a market capitalization of $7.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.44, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.92. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $175.37 and a 1-year high of $222.70.

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 business 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 for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.04 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Watts Water Technologies's payout ratio is currently 20.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Watts Water Technologies news, General Counsel Kenneth Robert Lepage sold 2,607 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.72, for a total value 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 $2,437,133.04. The trade was a 18.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Shashank Patel sold 4,569 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,635 shares in the company, valued at $3,269,278.50. This trade represents a 22.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 32,974 shares of company stock worth $6,924,594. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.