Clean Yield Group Lowers Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Clean Yield Group decreased its stake in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 880 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Clean Yield Group’s holdings in Waters were worth $326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Summit Trail Advisors LLC grew its position in Waters by 2.4% during the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,198 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $431,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 851 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its position in Waters by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 1,340 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $482,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Waters by 3.2% during the second quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,084 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 0.9% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 3,998 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,439,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on WAT. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $384.71.

Waters Price Performance

NYSE WAT traded up $17.67 on Monday, reaching $398.02. 312,319 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 363,050. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $376.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $346.55. Waters Co. has a 12 month low of $279.24 and a 12 month high of $401.00. The company has a market cap of $23.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.98, a P/E/G ratio of 6.92 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The company had revenue of $740.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $712.99 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.84 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 11.79 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.