Bank of Montreal Can Lowers Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Bank of Montreal Can trimmed its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 1.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 104,807 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 1,508 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Waters were worth $37,451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WAT. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Waters by 70.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 656,019 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $236,095,000 after acquiring an additional 271,804 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 34.4% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 393,890 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $141,757,000 after buying an additional 100,811 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 21.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 448,304 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $130,053,000 after buying an additional 77,951 shares during the period. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 3,627.0% in the 3rd quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 68,987 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $24,828,000 after buying an additional 67,136 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 71.9% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 140,992 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $50,742,000 after buying an additional 58,983 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WAT shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Leerink Partners upgraded Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Cfra set a $389.00 price objective on Waters in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Waters from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $365.85.

Waters Trading Down 0.4 %

WAT opened at $386.57 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 0.97. Waters Co. has a 52 week low of $273.60 and a 52 week high of $395.44. The business’s 50 day moving average is $357.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $332.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $740.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $712.99 million. Waters had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 21.43%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.84 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 11.79 EPS for the current year.

Waters 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.