Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Sold by Boston Trust Walden Corp

Boston Trust Walden Corp trimmed its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 12.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 471,919 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 66,093 shares during the quarter. Waters comprises approximately 1.2% of Boston Trust Walden Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned approximately 0.80% of Waters worth $169,839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 21.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 448,304 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $130,053,000 after buying an additional 77,951 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake 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 valued at $189,417,000 after acquiring an additional 51,853 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 41,654 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Waters during the second quarter worth about $9,295,000. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Waters in the 1st quarter valued at about $10,106,000. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Leerink Partners raised shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $325.00 to $375.00 in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $310.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Waters from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waters has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $342.58.

Waters Price Performance

NYSE:WAT traded down $2.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $324.55. 206,826 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 421,783. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 2.10. The company has a market cap of $19.27 billion, a PE ratio of 32.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.67 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $342.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $325.03. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $234.04 and a 1 year high of $367.21.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $709.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $700.09 million. Waters had a return on equity of 56.81% and a net margin of 20.71%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 11.6 EPS for the current 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.