Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 53 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Sentry Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 17.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 259 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 53 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $75,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAT. Foguth Wealth Management LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Waters during the 1st quarter worth $2,773,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Waters during the fourth quarter valued at $962,000. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH grew its holdings in Waters by 2,134.3% during the first quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 5,921 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,038,000 after purchasing an additional 5,656 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Waters by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,837,662 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,251,163,000 after buying an additional 64,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Madison Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Waters by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 187,483 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $61,725,000 after buying an additional 39,954 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waters Stock Performance

NYSE WAT opened at $325.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 1.42. Waters Co. has a 1-year low of $231.90 and a 1-year high of $367.21. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $325.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $324.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.34 billion, a PE ratio of 31.98, a P/E/G ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.95.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $709.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $700.09 million. Waters had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 56.81%. Waters’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 11.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WAT. Leerink Partners upgraded Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Waters from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Waters from $325.00 to $363.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waters presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $318.50.

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.