Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Short Interest Up 24.6% in February

Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,620,000 shares, a growth of 24.6% from the February 13th total of 1,300,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 470,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days. Approximately 2.7% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Waters

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WAT. Advisory Alpha LLC grew its position in Waters by 2.6% during 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 boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 2.4% during the 3rd 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 period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 966 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $3,565,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Waters by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 851 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Stock Performance

WAT stock traded up $1.50 on Monday, reaching $378.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 359,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 437,361. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $391.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $370.72. 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 company has a market capitalization of $22.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. Waters has a 52 week low of $279.24 and a 52 week high of $423.56.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts predict that Waters will post 12.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com lowered Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $360.00 to $415.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Eleven research 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $391.07.

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.