Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Sold by Portland Global Advisors LLC

Portland Global Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 19.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 657 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 154 shares during the quarter. Portland Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAT. Advisory Alpha LLC raised its holdings in Waters by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 1,065 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Waters by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 966 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in Waters by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 9,610 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,565,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Waters by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 353 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Waters by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 537 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $199,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird raised Waters from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $396.00 to $407.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Baird R W upgraded shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays raised shares of Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $360.00 to $415.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waters has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.40.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of WAT opened at $361.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Waters Co. has a 1-year low of $279.24 and a 1-year high of $423.56. The stock has a market cap of $21.48 billion, a PE ratio of 33.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $387.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $372.60.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a return on equity of 46.31% and a net margin of 21.56%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS for the current year.

Waters Company 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.