Quilter Plc Decreases Stock Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Quilter Plc cut its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 0.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 61,818 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 217 shares during the quarter. Quilter Plc’s holdings in Waters were worth $17,935,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAT. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waters in the fourth quarter worth about $229,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waters in the fourth quarter worth about $217,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Waters by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 346,812 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $114,191,000 after purchasing an additional 18,946 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waters by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 2,267 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $746,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV raised its stake in shares of Waters by 3,375.0% in the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 695 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waters Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of WAT opened at $325.86 on Monday. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $231.90 and a 12 month high of $367.21. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $325.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $324.62. The firm has a market cap of $19.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.98, a PEG ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 0.95.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Waters from $330.00 to $310.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Waters to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Leerink Partners raised Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $325.00 to $375.00 in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Waters in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $380.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $318.50.

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.