William Blair Investment Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

William Blair Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 29.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 52,464 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 22,083 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $24,862,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSO. FMR LLC boosted its position in 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 during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Watsco during the 4th quarter worth $63,603,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Watsco by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,371,535 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $649,957,000 after purchasing an additional 118,713 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in Watsco by 2,128.1% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 107,463 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $52,880,000 after purchasing an additional 102,640 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in Watsco by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,173,762 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $577,350,000 after buying an additional 65,846 shares during the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Watsco from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Northcoast Research assumed coverage on shares of Watsco in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of Watsco in a research report on Friday, January 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Watsco from $450.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $486.25.

Watsco Stock Performance

Shares of Watsco stock opened at $508.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $20.55 billion, a PE ratio of 38.39 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $491.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $495.86. Watsco, Inc. has a 1 year low of $396.82 and a 1 year high of $571.42.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Watsco had a net margin of 7.04% and a return on equity of 17.59%. On average, equities analysts predict that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a dividend of $2.70 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $10.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.51%.

About Watsco

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.