SFE Investment Counsel Cuts Stock Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

SFE Investment Counsel reduced its holdings in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,279 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 51 shares during the period. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Waters were worth $460,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waters by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,879,316 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,368,067,000 after acquiring an additional 41,654 shares in the last quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd raised its stake in Waters by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 1,110,898 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $382,404,000 after acquiring an additional 11,851 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position 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 during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 21.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 448,304 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $130,053,000 after purchasing an additional 77,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Waters by 4.3% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 443,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $152,664,000 after purchasing an additional 18,274 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on WAT shares. Leerink Partners raised Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays increased their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $355.00 to $415.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Waters from $325.00 to $363.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Cfra set a $389.00 price target on Waters in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $342.58.

Waters Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WAT opened at $325.51 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.42, a P/E/G ratio of 6.38 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $341.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $324.72. Waters Co. has a 52-week low of $234.04 and a 52-week high of $367.21.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 56.81%. The business had revenue of $709.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $700.09 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 11.6 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.