Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. Cuts Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. reduced its position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 23.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,329 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.’s holdings in Waters were worth $493,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,577,733 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $927,700,000 after acquiring an additional 49,194 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,416,683 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $508,123,000 after acquiring an additional 16,703 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Waters by 0.7% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 885,593 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $318,717,000 after acquiring an additional 6,256 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Waters by 1.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 659,539 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $219,811,000 after acquiring an additional 6,647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 70.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 656,019 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $236,095,000 after purchasing an additional 271,804 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WAT. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Waters from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $384.71.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of WAT opened at $403.85 on Tuesday. Waters Co. has a one year low of $279.24 and a one year high of $411.58. The stock has a market cap of $23.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.54, a P/E/G ratio of 7.07 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 2.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $378.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $351.45.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $712.99 million. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. Waters’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.84 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 11.79 EPS for the current 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.