First Horizon Advisors Inc. Has $258,000 Stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 544 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 32 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Watsco were worth $258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Watsco by 10.6% during the 3rd 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 period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in Watsco by 2,128.1% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 107,463 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $52,880,000 after purchasing an additional 102,640 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Watsco by 5.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,173,762 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $577,350,000 after purchasing an additional 65,846 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Watsco by 9.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 704,330 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $345,783,000 after buying an additional 63,254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Watsco by 5.2% in 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 buying an additional 62,041 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 12.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Watsco Trading Down 0.8 %

WSO stock opened at $497.27 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $484.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $492.95. Watsco, Inc. has a 12 month low of $380.58 and a 12 month high of $571.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.53 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a dividend of $2.70 per share. This represents a $10.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. 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.