Signaturefd LLC Sells 61 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Signaturefd LLC reduced its stake in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 860 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 61 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $283,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,520,629 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $965,392,000 after acquiring an additional 48,740 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Waters by 3.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,092,459 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $299,563,000 after purchasing an additional 32,059 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Waters by 129.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 973,537 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $322,017,000 after purchasing an additional 550,112 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Waters by 34.3% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 832,895 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $228,388,000 after purchasing an additional 212,754 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its stake in Waters by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 582,048 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $191,628,000 after purchasing an additional 10,550 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.54, for a total value of $177,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $799,965. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on WAT shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waters presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $298.67.

Waters Price Performance

WAT stock opened at $311.30 on Friday. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $231.90 and a 1 year high of $363.80. The company has a market cap of $18.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.69, a PEG ratio of 6.14 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $334.78 and a 200 day moving average of $307.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.56 by $0.06. Waters had a net margin of 21.72% and a return on equity of 81.30%. The company had revenue of $819.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $815.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.84 earnings per share. Waters’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

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.