Phillips Wealth Planners LLC Sells 137 Shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Phillips Wealth Planners LLC cut its holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 16.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 678 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 137 shares during the period. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Watsco by 10.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,624,159 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,782,651,000 after acquiring an additional 346,470 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Watsco by 5.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,252,822 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $616,357,000 after acquiring an additional 62,041 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Watsco by 5.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,173,762 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $577,350,000 after acquiring an additional 65,846 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Watsco by 9.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 704,330 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $345,783,000 after acquiring an additional 63,254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Markel Group Inc. boosted its stake in Watsco by 2.0% in the third quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 582,500 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $286,520,000 after acquiring an additional 11,250 shares during the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Watsco Stock Performance

WSO opened at $505.84 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $506.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $492.88. The firm has a market cap of $20.43 billion, a PE ratio of 39.09 and a beta of 0.95. Watsco, Inc. has a twelve month low of $373.33 and a twelve month high of $571.41.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The construction company reported $4.22 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.73 by ($0.51). Watsco had a return on equity of 17.77% and a net margin of 6.99%. The company had revenue of $2.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.35 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 13.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a dividend of $2.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $10.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Watsco’s payout ratio is 83.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Barry S. Logan sold 10,998 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 12.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WSO shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Watsco from $550.00 to $540.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Watsco in a report on Friday, January 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Northcoast Research initiated coverage on shares of Watsco in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $488.33.

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.