Wellington Management Group LLP Lowers Stock Holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Wellington Management Group LLP lowered its stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO - Free Report) by 14.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 450,211 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 73,738 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 1.11% of Watsco worth $221,450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 10.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,624,159 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,782,651,000 after buying an additional 346,470 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Watsco by 5.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,252,822 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $616,357,000 after purchasing an additional 62,041 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Watsco by 5.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,173,762 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $577,350,000 after purchasing an additional 65,846 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in Watsco by 1.2% in the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 801,152 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $371,126,000 after purchasing an additional 9,141 shares during the period. Finally, Markel Group Inc. lifted its position in Watsco by 2.0% in the third quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 582,500 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $286,520,000 after purchasing an additional 11,250 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company's stock.

Watsco Price Performance

Shares of WSO stock traded down $4.44 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $522.37. 180,008 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 278,300. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $510.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $489.89. Watsco, Inc. has a 1-year low of $373.33 and a 1-year high of $571.41. The firm has a market cap of $21.09 billion, a PE ratio of 40.71 and a beta of 0.92.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The construction company reported $4.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.73 by ($0.51). Watsco had a net margin of 6.99% and a return on equity of 17.77%. The company had revenue of $2.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.35 earnings per share. Watsco's revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Watsco, Inc. will post 13.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 16th were paid a dividend of $2.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 16th. This represents a $10.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Watsco's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WSO shares. Northcoast Research started coverage on shares of Watsco in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Watsco from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th.

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.