Wealth Alliance Sells 32 Shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Wealth Alliance lessened its stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,964 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 32 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Watsco were worth $931,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WSO. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Watsco by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,624,159 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,782,651,000 after purchasing an additional 346,470 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Watsco by 48,984.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 233,643 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $114,924,000 after acquiring an additional 233,167 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Watsco by 2,128.1% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 107,463 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $52,880,000 after acquiring an additional 102,640 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Watsco by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,173,762 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $577,350,000 after acquiring an additional 65,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Watsco by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 704,330 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $345,783,000 after acquiring an additional 63,254 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on WSO shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Watsco from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Northcoast Research started coverage on shares of Watsco in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Raymond James started coverage on shares of Watsco in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Watsco presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $495.00.

Insider Transactions at Watsco

In other news, EVP Barry S. Logan sold 10,998 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.21, for a total transaction of $5,589,293.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 12.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Watsco Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of WSO stock opened at $515.53 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $484.99 and a 200-day moving average of $491.92. Watsco, Inc. has a 12-month low of $377.92 and a 12-month high of $571.41. The firm has a market cap of $20.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.91 and a beta of 0.95.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.24. Watsco had a net margin of 7.04% and a return on equity of 17.61%. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.5 EPS for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a dividend of $2.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $10.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Watsco’s payout ratio is currently 81.51%.

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.