Tredje AP fonden Sells 145 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Tredje AP fonden cut its holdings in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,213 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 145 shares during the period. Tredje AP fonden’s holdings in Waters were worth $2,673,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WAT. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in Waters during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $229,000. ING Groep NV boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 3,375.0% in the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 695 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Waters in the fourth quarter valued at $206,286,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Waters by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 20,979 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $6,907,000 after buying an additional 1,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in Waters by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 96,018 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $31,612,000 after acquiring an additional 1,147 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waters Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE WAT opened at $338.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $20.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.23, a PEG ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.95. Waters Co. has a 1-year low of $231.90 and a 1-year 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 50 day moving average of $328.27 and a 200-day moving average of $324.50.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WAT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $310.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Leerink Partners upgraded Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Waters to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Waters from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.