Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Trims Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC cut its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,255 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 54 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $3,062,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in Waters by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,587 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,331,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Waters by 34.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 159,995 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $57,579,000 after buying an additional 41,339 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in Waters by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $632,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in Waters by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,578 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $928,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in shares of Waters by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 421,691 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $156,439,000 after acquiring an additional 27,801 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:WAT opened at $368.53 on Tuesday. Waters Co. has a one year low of $279.24 and a one year high of $423.56. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $386.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $373.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $21.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its 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 return on equity of 46.31% and a net margin of 21.56%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on WAT. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Baird R W upgraded Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. KeyCorp upgraded Waters from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $460.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded 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 report on Thursday, February 13th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Waters presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $401.31.

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.