Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Sold by Pitcairn Co.

Pitcairn Co. lessened its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,143 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 311 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Waters were worth $411,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Waters during the second quarter worth $33,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of Waters in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Waters by 190.2% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 119 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Waters in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. increased its stake in Waters by 19,900.0% in the second quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 200 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waters Stock Performance

NYSE:WAT opened at $388.15 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market cap of $23.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.83 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $355.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $332.34. Waters Co. has a 1-year low of $273.60 and a 1-year high of $393.38.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. The business 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.84 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 11.79 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on WAT. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Leerink Partners raised Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $325.00 to $375.00 in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $365.85.

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.