Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. Purchases 1,186 Shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. grew its position in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,763 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,186 shares during the quarter. Watsco makes up about 1.6% of Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc.’s holdings in Watsco were worth $6,522,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WSO. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Watsco by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,624,159 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,782,651,000 after purchasing an additional 346,470 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of Watsco by 2,128.1% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 107,463 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $52,880,000 after acquiring an additional 102,640 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Watsco by 5.9% during the 3rd 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Watsco by 9.9% during the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Watsco by 5.2% during the 3rd 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 period. 89.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of Watsco in a research report on Friday, January 17th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Northcoast Research assumed coverage on shares of Watsco in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $495.00.

Watsco Trading Down 0.8 %

WSO opened at $497.27 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $484.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $492.95. Watsco, Inc. has a 1-year low of $380.58 and a 1-year high of $571.41. The company has a market cap of $20.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.53 and a beta of 0.95.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The construction company reported $2.37 earnings per share 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 17.59%. The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were issued 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 2.17%. Watsco’s payout ratio is 81.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Barry S. Logan sold 10,998 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $508.21, for a total value of $5,589,293.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 12.86% of the company’s stock.

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.