New York State Teachers Retirement System Reduces Stock Holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,611 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 3,100 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.09% of Watsco worth $17,423,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WSO. Shaker Investments LLC OH raised its holdings in shares of Watsco by 0.3% during the first quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH now owns 7,564 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,267,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in shares of Watsco by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 293 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 80 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Lincoln National Corp grew its position in shares of Watsco by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 728 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Watsco by 100.0% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 58 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Watsco Trading Up 1.6 %

Watsco stock traded up $7.84 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $486.46. The stock had a trading volume of 50,980 shares, compared to its average volume of 304,838. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 3.21 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market cap of $19.60 billion, a PE ratio of 37.52 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $481.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $449.45. Watsco, Inc. has a 52 week low of $338.58 and a 52 week high of $520.41.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The construction company reported $4.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 18.55% and a net margin of 7.02%. Watsco’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.42 EPS. Analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 13.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 16th were given a dividend of $2.70 per share. This represents a $10.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 16th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Watsco in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Watsco from $460.00 to $522.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Watsco from $420.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Watsco has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $433.71.

Watsco Company 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.