Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Position Reduced by Ossiam

Ossiam trimmed its position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 11.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,859 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 385 shares during the period. Ossiam’s holdings in Waters were worth $1,061,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,098,668 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,633,464,000 after buying an additional 19,456 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Waters by 106,144.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 3,087,461 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,145,386,000 after purchasing an additional 3,084,555 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,654,002 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $984,582,000 after purchasing an additional 212,364 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Waters by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,451,445 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $537,053,000 after purchasing an additional 34,762 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AKO Capital LLP boosted its holdings in Waters by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. AKO Capital LLP now owns 815,379 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $302,489,000 after buying an additional 25,172 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waters Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Waters stock opened at $316.68 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.04. Waters Co. has a 12-month low of $279.24 and a 12-month high of $423.56. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $358.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $371.08.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 21.56% and a return on equity of 46.31%. Research analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WAT. Scotiabank upgraded Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Waters from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waters has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $395.38.

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.