B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Sells 2,541 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG lowered its stake in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 56.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,991 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 2,541 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Waters were worth $739,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in shares of Waters during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in Waters by 235.7% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 129.3% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Waters in the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Waters by 54.3% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 125 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WAT has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com cut Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. KeyCorp raised shares of Waters from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $460.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $401.31.

Waters Trading Down 5.0 %

Shares of WAT opened at $344.67 on Friday. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $279.24 and a 1 year high of $423.56. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $383.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $373.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $20.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 21.56% and a return on equity of 46.31%. On average, equities analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.