Primecap Management Co. CA Lowers Stock Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Primecap Management Co. CA trimmed its position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 0.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 98,459 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA owned about 0.17% of Waters worth $35,434,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAT. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Waters during the first quarter valued at approximately $10,106,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Waters by 67.5% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 10,382 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,574,000 after purchasing an additional 4,184 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Waters by 96.8% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 868 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 61.6% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 6,584 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,267,000 after buying an additional 2,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in Waters by 8.6% in the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 26,234 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $7,611,000 after acquiring an additional 2,086 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WAT has been the topic of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Waters from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $365.85.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of WAT stock opened at $368.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $21.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.11, a PEG ratio of 6.31 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s fifty day moving average is $353.08 and its 200 day moving average is $331.57. Waters Co. has a twelve month low of $273.60 and a twelve month high of $393.38.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $712.99 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.84 EPS. Waters’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 11.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Waters

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.