Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Sold by Balentine LLC

Balentine LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 822 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 84 shares during the quarter. Balentine LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $271,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. IMPACTfolio LLC increased its position in Waters by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. IMPACTfolio LLC now owns 803 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID increased its position in Waters by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID now owns 11,469 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,776,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Waters by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,413 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $465,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Waters by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 937 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Waters by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,655 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $454,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Christopher A. Kuebler sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.64, for a total value of $1,446,560.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,321,894.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Christopher A. Kuebler sold 4,000 shares of Waters stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.64, for a total transaction of $1,446,560.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,321,894.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of Waters stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.54, for a total value of $177,770.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,250 shares in the company, valued at $799,965. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waters Price Performance

NYSE WAT opened at $348.80 on Thursday. Waters Co. has a fifty-two week low of $231.90 and a fifty-two week high of $367.21. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $333.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $318.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market cap of $20.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.98.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $636.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $635.57 million. Waters had a return on equity of 66.59% and a net margin of 20.75%. The business’s revenue was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.49 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 11.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WAT shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Waters from $330.00 to $332.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Waters from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Waters from $350.00 to $358.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Waters from $319.00 to $312.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Waters from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waters currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $305.78.

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.