Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Watsco, Inc. $WSO

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Watsco, Inc. (NYSE:WSO) by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,832 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 2,017 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Watsco were worth $8,018,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WSO. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Watsco by 2.2% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,485,996 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $656,036,000 after purchasing an additional 31,484 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Watsco by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 389,104 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $171,836,000 after buying an additional 1,234 shares in the last quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Watsco by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 357,837 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $158,028,000 after buying an additional 6,566 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its holdings in Watsco by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 356,844 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $143,748,000 after buying an additional 36,010 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Watsco by 106.4% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 296,170 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $130,801,000 after buying an additional 152,662 shares in the last quarter. 89.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WSO shares. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Watsco in a report on Friday, December 12th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Watsco from $400.00 to $370.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 5th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Watsco in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Wolfe Research set a $349.00 target price on Watsco in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Watsco from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Watsco presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $404.14.

Watsco Stock Performance

NYSE:WSO opened at $425.13 on Wednesday. Watsco, Inc. has a 52-week low of $323.05 and a 52-week high of $535.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $367.20 and a 200 day moving average of $379.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.21 and a beta of 1.04.

Watsco Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th were issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 16th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Watsco’s payout ratio is presently 93.75%.

Watsco Profile

Watsco, Inc is the largest distributor of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R) equipment, parts and supplies in the United States. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, the company operates a network of more than 600 branches across the continental U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. Watsco serves residential and commercial contractors by providing essential components for climate control systems, including air conditioners, furnaces, heat pumps, coils, refrigerants, controls and electrical and piping supplies.

Founded in 1947, Watsco has grown from a single regional distributor into an industry leader through a combination of organic expansion, acquisitions and strategic partnerships with original equipment manufacturers such as Carrier, Trane, Goodman and Lennox.