Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Sold by SFE Investment Counsel

SFE Investment Counsel trimmed its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,334 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 160 shares during the quarter. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Waters were worth $439,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. IMPACTfolio LLC raised its holdings in Waters by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. IMPACTfolio LLC now owns 803 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA raised 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 during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Waters by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,180 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Waters by 35.2% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 173 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Wetherby Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Waters by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,645 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $511,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WAT. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Waters from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays upped their target price on Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Waters from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $298.67.

Waters Trading Down 3.3 %

NYSE:WAT opened at $294.23 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $336.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $305.38. Waters Co. has a 52 week low of $231.90 and a 52 week high of $363.80. The company has a market capitalization of $17.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.12, a P/E/G ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 2.22.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.56 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $819.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $815.50 million. Waters had a return on equity of 81.30% and a net margin of 21.72%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.84 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waters news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.54, for a total transaction of $177,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $799,965. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

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.