Watsco, Inc. $WSO Shares Sold by Voya Investment Management LLC

Voya Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,591 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 3,168 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $3,069,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSO. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Watsco by 62.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 468,875 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $238,329,000 after acquiring an additional 180,951 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Watsco during the 2nd quarter valued at about $331,000. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 1.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 108,889 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $48,088,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Watsco by 4.5% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 150,033 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $66,233,000 after purchasing an additional 6,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in Watsco by 4.9% during the second quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 21,717 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $9,591,000 after purchasing an additional 1,013 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE:WSO opened at $347.59 on Friday. Watsco, Inc. has a 52 week low of $323.05 and a 52 week high of $535.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $350.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $397.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.16 and a beta of 1.01.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued 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. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 16th were issued a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 16th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Watsco’s payout ratio is 93.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WSO. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Watsco from $425.00 to $390.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 6th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Watsco in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Watsco from $400.00 to $360.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Watsco in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $349.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Watsco has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $422.71.

About Watsco

Watsco, Inc is the largest distributor of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R) equipment, parts and supplies in the United States. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, the company operates a network of more than 600 branches across the continental U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. Watsco serves residential and commercial contractors by providing essential components for climate control systems, including air conditioners, furnaces, heat pumps, coils, refrigerants, controls and electrical and piping supplies.

Founded in 1947, Watsco has grown from a single regional distributor into an industry leader through a combination of organic expansion, acquisitions and strategic partnerships with original equipment manufacturers such as Carrier, Trane, Goodman and Lennox.