Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Holdings Decreased by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc reduced its stake in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 7.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,149 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 1,650 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Waters were worth $5,846,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WAT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Waters by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,879,316 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,368,067,000 after acquiring an additional 41,654 shares in the last quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd raised its position in Waters by 1.1% in the first quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 1,110,898 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $382,404,000 after acquiring an additional 11,851 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Waters by 8.6% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 652,892 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $189,417,000 after acquiring an additional 51,853 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Waters by 21.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 448,304 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $130,053,000 after buying an additional 77,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in Waters by 4.3% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 443,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $152,664,000 after buying an additional 18,274 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WAT opened at $340.00 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $331.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $324.10. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $231.90 and a 1 year high of $367.21. The firm has a market cap of $20.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.37, a P/E/G ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.95.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.08. The company 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 11.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Waters from $330.00 to $310.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Waters to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Waters from $325.00 to $363.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Leerink Partners raised shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective 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, twelve have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waters currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $318.50.

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.