LGT Group Foundation Trims Stock Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

LGT Group Foundation cut its holdings in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 71.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,534 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 44,322 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in Waters were worth $6,505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Advisory Alpha LLC boosted its holdings in Waters by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 1,065 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Waters by 2.4% in the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,198 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $431,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Waters by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 966 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in Waters by 0.3% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Waters by 3.8% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 851 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $360.00 to $415.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waters presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $390.40.

Waters Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE:WAT opened at $371.40 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $390.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $367.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.68, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.94. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $279.24 and a 1 year high of $423.56.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.