Czech National Bank Purchases 900 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 8.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 11,303 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 900 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Waters were worth $3,279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $3,776,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Waters by 2.9% in the first quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 1,250 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $430,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Waters by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,354 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $446,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Eads & Heald Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management now owns 681 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. now owns 10,819 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,724,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Richard H. Fearon purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $332.90 per share, with a total value of $332,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 1,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $550,283.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Waters news, Director Richard H. Fearon purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $332.90 per share, for a total transaction of $332,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $550,283.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher A. Kuebler sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.64, for a total value of $1,446,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,321,894.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on WAT shares. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Waters in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $320.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Waters to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Waters from $330.00 to $310.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock 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 research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Waters from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waters currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $310.58.

Waters Stock Performance

NYSE WAT traded down $2.64 on Monday, hitting $330.06. 79,012 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 448,017. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.59 billion, a PE ratio of 32.65, a P/E/G ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 0.95. Waters Co. has a 1-year low of $231.90 and a 1-year high of $367.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $304.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $322.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

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