Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Sold by MetLife Investment Management LLC

MetLife Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 2.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,064 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 419 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $6,141,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WAT. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Waters in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Waters during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waters by 190.2% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 119 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Waters in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its stake in Waters by 19,900.0% in the second quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 200 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Waters from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Cfra set a $389.00 price target on shares of Waters in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $355.00 to $415.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $365.85.

Waters Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of WAT stock opened at $384.72 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.07 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The business’s 50 day moving average is $359.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $333.60. Waters Co. has a twelve month low of $276.84 and a twelve month high of $395.44.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $740.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $712.99 million. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. Waters’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.84 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 11.79 EPS for the current 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.