Diversified Trust Co Has $963,000 Stock Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Diversified Trust Co lessened its position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 27.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,595 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 986 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co’s holdings in Waters were worth $963,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WAT. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Waters by 70.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 656,019 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $236,095,000 after purchasing an additional 271,804 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in shares of Waters by 34.4% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 393,890 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $141,757,000 after acquiring an additional 100,811 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 37.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 305,661 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $110,005,000 after acquiring an additional 82,865 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Waters by 21.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 448,304 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $130,053,000 after acquiring an additional 77,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Applied Finance Capital Management LLC increased its position in Waters by 3,627.0% in the third quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 68,987 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $24,828,000 after purchasing an additional 67,136 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays increased their price target on Waters from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $355.00 to $415.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Waters from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $379.71.

Waters Stock Down 0.9 %

WAT stock opened at $373.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.66, a P/E/G ratio of 6.92 and a beta of 1.01. Waters Co. has a fifty-two week low of $279.24 and a fifty-two week high of $397.02. The business has a 50-day moving average of $376.97 and a 200-day moving average of $345.11.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $740.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $712.99 million. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.84 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.