Donaldson Capital Management LLC Has $665,000 Stock Holdings in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO)

Donaldson Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,403 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 26 shares during the quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Watsco were worth $665,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 346,470 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Watsco during the fourth quarter worth $63,603,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Watsco by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,371,535 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $649,957,000 after acquiring an additional 118,713 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 102,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Watsco by 5.9% in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Northcoast Research began coverage on shares of Watsco in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Watsco from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Raymond James began coverage on Watsco in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their target price on Watsco from $450.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $486.25.

Watsco Stock Performance

Shares of WSO opened at $506.39 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $20.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.22 and a beta of 0.92. Watsco, Inc. has a 52 week low of $393.88 and a 52 week high of $571.41. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $487.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $494.76.

Watsco (NYSE:WSO) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Watsco had a return on equity of 17.59% and a net margin of 7.04%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Watsco, Inc. will post 14.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Watsco Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a dividend of $2.70 per share. This represents a $10.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. Watsco’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.51%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Barry S. Logan sold 10,998 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $508.21, for a total value of $5,589,293.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 12.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.