Mission Wealth Management LP Reduces Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Mission Wealth Management LP trimmed its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,094 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 83 shares during the quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP’s holdings in Waters were worth $1,148,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WAT. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Waters by 34.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 159,995 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $57,579,000 after purchasing an additional 41,339 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $632,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Waters by 71.9% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 140,992 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $50,742,000 after buying an additional 58,983 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in Waters by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,578 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $928,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in Waters by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 421,691 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $156,439,000 after buying an additional 27,801 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of WAT opened at $371.40 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $390.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $367.93. The company has a market cap of $22.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Waters Co. has a twelve month low of $279.24 and a twelve month high of $423.56.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WAT shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays upgraded Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $360.00 to $415.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com cut Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank raised Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $390.40.

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.