600 Shares in Watsco, Inc. $WSO Purchased by Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC

Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 600 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WSO. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Watsco by 0.5% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,557,610 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $791,734,000 after buying an additional 7,760 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Watsco by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,454,512 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $739,088,000 after acquiring an additional 82,977 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in shares of Watsco by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 814,712 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $414,118,000 after acquiring an additional 43,776 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Watsco by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 496,428 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $252,335,000 after acquiring an additional 18,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Watsco by 62.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 468,875 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $238,329,000 after purchasing an additional 180,951 shares during the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Watsco Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE WSO opened at $351.96 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a twelve month low of $344.52 and a twelve month high of $571.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $382.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $425.43. The company has a market capitalization of $14.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.50 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 16th were paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 16th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on WSO shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Watsco from $425.00 to $390.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Watsco from $505.00 to $460.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Watsco in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Watsco from $400.00 to $360.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on Watsco from $525.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $435.00.

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.