Insider Selling: Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) Major Shareholder Sells $68,000.00 in Stock

Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) major shareholder Timothy Horne sold 250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.00, for a total transaction of $68,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 22,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,189,632. This represents a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Watts Water Technologies Stock Performance

Watts Water Technologies stock opened at $277.71 on Thursday. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $177.59 and a fifty-two week high of $287.89. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $275.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $263.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The company has a market cap of $9.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.17.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The technology company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.21. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 13.63% and a return on equity of 18.11%. The firm had revenue of $611.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $576.20 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.03 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. Watts Water Technologies has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 EPS for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. Watts Water Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 21.47%.

Institutional Trading of Watts Water Technologies

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Watts Water Technologies in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Wexford Capital LP bought a new stake in Watts Water Technologies in the third quarter worth $26,000. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in Watts Water Technologies during the third quarter worth $29,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its holdings in Watts Water Technologies by 156.9% during the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 131 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the first quarter worth about $33,000. 95.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Watts Water Technologies from $287.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Watts Water Technologies in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $264.25.

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.