Jane Street Group LLC Sells 45,168 Shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS)

Jane Street Group LLC cut its stake in Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS - Free Report) by 71.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,933 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 45,168 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Watts Water Technologies worth $3,716,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WTS. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Watts Water Technologies by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 977,000 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $202,425,000 after purchasing an additional 8,314 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Watts Water Technologies in the third quarter worth about $231,000. Port Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Port Capital LLC now owns 228,918 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $47,430,000 after acquiring an additional 14,025 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in Watts Water Technologies during the third quarter worth approximately $10,792,000. Finally, PDT Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 46.5% during the 3rd quarter. PDT Partners LLC now owns 20,168 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $4,179,000 after acquiring an additional 6,399 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.02% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Kenneth Robert Lepage sold 3,429 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.65, for a total value of $667,454.85. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 14,064 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,737,557.60. This represents a 19.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Shashank Patel sold 4,569 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.10, for a total value of $955,377.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 15,635 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,269,278.50. This represents a 22.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,974 shares of company stock worth $6,924,594 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:WTS traded down $1.40 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $202.02. 662,846 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 148,456. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $208.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $198.57. The firm has a market cap of $6.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.55. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $175.37 and a twelve month high of $222.70.

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

Watts Water Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Watts Water Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WTS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Watts Water Technologies in a research report on Tuesday. They set a "hold" rating and a $240.00 target price on the stock. Northcoast Research raised shares of Watts Water Technologies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Watts Water Technologies currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $220.50.

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.