Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) Shares Bought by Deutsche Bank AG

Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 15.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,475 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,449 shares during the quarter. Deutsche Bank AG’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $11,278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WTS. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 105.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 52,810 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,942,000 after purchasing an additional 27,138 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at about $241,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 1,661 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 59.8% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 155 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at about $357,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on WTS. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $197.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $219.00 to $229.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Watts Water Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $222.00.

Insider Transactions at Watts Water Technologies

In related news, insider Monica Barry sold 768 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.40, for a total value of $188,467.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,530,314.40. This trade represents a 10.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Elie Melhem sold 4,397 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.53, for a total transaction of $925,700.41. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,204,038.57. This trade represents a 29.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 13,165 shares of company stock valued at $3,074,168. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Watts Water Technologies Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE WTS opened at $240.82 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.71, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.08. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $175.37 and a 12 month high of $248.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.65. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $207.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $208.87.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.12 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $558.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $547.58 million. Watts Water Technologies had a net margin of 12.93% and a return on equity of 18.08%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.33 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Watts Water Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This is a boost from Watts Water Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Watts Water Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.83%.

Watts Water Technologies Company 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.