680 Shares in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Acquired by Buffington Mohr McNeal

Buffington Mohr McNeal acquired a new position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 680 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Waters during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Waters by 11,000.0% during the 2nd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 111 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in Waters by 55.3% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 118 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Waters during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Waters during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of Waters stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.54, for a total transaction of $177,770.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $799,965. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WAT opened at $313.72 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $337.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $305.47. Waters Co. has a 12 month low of $231.90 and a 12 month high of $363.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.91, a P/E/G ratio of 6.36 and a beta of 0.92.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.56 by $0.06. Waters had a net margin of 21.72% and a return on equity of 81.30%. The firm had revenue of $819.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $815.50 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.84 EPS. Waters’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $298.67.

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.