Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 375 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lowered its position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,863 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 375 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $4,030,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WAT. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in Waters in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of Waters by 235.7% in the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Waters by 129.3% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Waters by 54.3% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 125 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Waters during the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WAT shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank raised Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $360.00 to $415.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waters currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $391.07.

Waters Price Performance

NYSE WAT opened at $365.75 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.15, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. Waters Co. has a 1-year low of $279.24 and a 1-year high of $423.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $390.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $371.56.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a return on equity of 46.31% and a net margin of 21.56%. On average, equities analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current year.

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.