Banco Santander S.A. Has $587,000 Stock Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Banco Santander S.A. decreased its holdings in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 76.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,630 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 5,243 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Waters were worth $587,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Waters by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 851 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 0.4% in the second quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 7,841 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,275,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in Waters by 3.2% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its position in Waters by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,170 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in Waters by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 13,087 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,797,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on WAT. Leerink Partners raised shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $355.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Waters to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Waters from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $365.85.

Waters Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:WAT opened at $373.47 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $354.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $331.99. Waters Co. has a fifty-two week low of $273.60 and a fifty-two week high of $393.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.18 billion, a PE ratio of 35.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 0.97.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $712.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.84 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 11.79 earnings per share 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.