Raymond James & Associates Decreases Stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Raymond James & Associates cut its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 5.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 97,863 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 5,396 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Waters were worth $35,220,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Waters by 170.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 322 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in Waters by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 6,250 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,249,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Waters during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $216,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in Waters by 34.7% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,329 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $478,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in Waters by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,782 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,001,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WAT opened at $333.28 on Thursday. Waters Co. has a twelve month low of $231.90 and a twelve month high of $367.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company has a market capitalization of $19.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.71, a PEG ratio of 6.85 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $342.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $325.06.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.08. Waters had a return on equity of 56.81% and a net margin of 20.71%. The company had revenue of $709.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $700.09 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.80 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 11.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WAT. Cfra set a $389.00 target price on shares of Waters in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Waters from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Waters in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $380.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waters currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $342.58.

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.