Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Sold by Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC

Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC cut its stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,295 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 243 shares during the period. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $3,345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Waters by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,879,316 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,368,067,000 after acquiring an additional 41,654 shares during the last quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd increased its holdings in Waters by 1.1% in the first quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 1,110,898 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $382,404,000 after buying an additional 11,851 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Waters by 8.6% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 652,892 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $189,417,000 after buying an additional 51,853 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Waters by 21.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 448,304 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $130,053,000 after buying an additional 77,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Waters by 4.3% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 443,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $152,664,000 after buying an additional 18,274 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WAT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Waters from $330.00 to $310.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Leerink Partners upgraded Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $325.00 to $375.00 in a report on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Waters from $325.00 to $363.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Waters to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $338.36.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of Waters stock traded down $7.90 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $352.10. The company had a trading volume of 102,746 shares, compared to its average volume of 421,897. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $341.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $324.78. The stock has a market cap of $20.90 billion, a PE ratio of 35.86, a P/E/G ratio of 7.02 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 1.42. Waters Co. has a 1-year low of $231.90 and a 1-year high of $367.21.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $709.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $700.09 million. Waters had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 56.81%. Waters’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 11.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waters Profile

Waters Corporation provides analytical workflow solutions in Asia, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through two segments: Waters and TA. The company designs, manufactures, sells, and services high and ultra-performance liquid chromatography, as well as mass spectrometry (MS) technology systems and support products, including chromatography columns, other consumable products, and post-warranty service plans.