Watsco, Inc. $WSO Shares Sold by Appleton Partners Inc. MA

Appleton Partners Inc. MA trimmed its holdings in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 1.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,717 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 85 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Watsco were worth $2,966,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WSO. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Watsco by 62.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 468,875 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $238,329,000 after buying an additional 180,951 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in Watsco during the first quarter valued at approximately $54,536,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Watsco by 6.0% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,454,512 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $739,088,000 after buying an additional 82,977 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Watsco during the first quarter valued at approximately $41,218,000. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in shares of Watsco by 5.7% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 814,712 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $414,118,000 after purchasing an additional 43,776 shares during the period. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Watsco Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of WSO opened at $415.70 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $410.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $448.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.86 billion, a PE ratio of 31.88 and a beta of 0.94. Watsco, Inc. has a 52-week low of $378.35 and a 52-week high of $571.41.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The construction company reported $4.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.84 by ($0.32). Watsco had a net margin of 7.08% and a return on equity of 16.96%. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.49 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 16th will be paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 16th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $505.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Watsco from $450.00 to $425.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $480.00.

Watsco Company 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.