Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Sold by GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd

GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 808,923 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 108,605 shares during the period. Waters accounts for 4.8% of GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd’s holdings in Waters were worth $300,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAT. Advisory Alpha LLC raised its stake in shares of Waters by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 1,065 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $395,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its position in Waters by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,198 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 966 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in shares of Waters by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 9,610 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,565,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waters by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 353 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WAT opened at $365.75 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $21.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. Waters Co. has a twelve month low of $279.24 and a twelve month high of $423.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $390.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $371.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 21.56% and a return on equity of 46.31%. On average, research analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upgraded shares of Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $360.00 to $415.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Waters currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $391.07.

Waters Company 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.