4,674 Shares in Watsco, Inc. $WSO Purchased by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,674 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,890,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Watsco in the second quarter worth about $84,826,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Watsco by 62.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 468,875 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $238,329,000 after acquiring an additional 180,951 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Watsco by 106.4% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 296,170 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $130,801,000 after acquiring an additional 152,662 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Watsco in the 1st quarter worth approximately $54,536,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in Watsco by 154.2% in the 2nd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 89,115 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $39,355,000 after purchasing an additional 54,053 shares during the period. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Watsco Trading Down 1.7%

WSO opened at $337.11 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.34 and a beta of 1.01. Watsco, Inc. has a 12-month low of $323.05 and a 12-month high of $535.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $348.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $395.09.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The construction company reported $3.98 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter. Watsco had a return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 7.04%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Watsco from $400.00 to $360.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Watsco from $525.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 17th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Watsco from $425.00 to $390.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Watsco in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Watsco from $505.00 to $460.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $422.71.

Watsco Profile

Watsco, Inc is the largest distributor of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R) equipment, parts and supplies in the United States. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, the company operates a network of more than 600 branches across the continental U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. Watsco serves residential and commercial contractors by providing essential components for climate control systems, including air conditioners, furnaces, heat pumps, coils, refrigerants, controls and electrical and piping supplies.

Founded in 1947, Watsco has grown from a single regional distributor into an industry leader through a combination of organic expansion, acquisitions and strategic partnerships with original equipment manufacturers such as Carrier, Trane, Goodman and Lennox.