Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) Shares Bought by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Watts Water Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:WTS) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 323,007 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,598 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Watts Water Technologies were worth $65,667,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Watts Water Technologies during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Watts Water Technologies during the third quarter valued at $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 59.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth about $68,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Watts Water Technologies by 24.4% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 392 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. 95.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on WTS shares. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of Watts Water Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Watts Water Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $240.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Watts Water Technologies from $202.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $220.50.

Watts Water Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WTS opened at $210.52 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.02 billion, a PE ratio of 25.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.55. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $209.23 and a 200-day moving average of $202.08. Watts Water Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $175.37 and a one year high of $222.70.

Watts Water Technologies (NYSE:WTS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The technology company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $543.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $541.83 million. Watts Water Technologies had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 12.37%. Watts Water Technologies’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.04 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Watts Water Technologies, Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Kenneth Robert Lepage sold 3,429 shares of Watts Water Technologies stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.65, for a total transaction of $667,454.85. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 14,064 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,737,557.60. The trade was a 19.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Monica Barry sold 1,559 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.52, for a total value of $331,318.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,430 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,463.60. This represents a 26.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,974 shares of company stock worth $6,924,594 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.