Argent Trust Co Raises Stock Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Argent Trust Co lifted its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 4.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,010 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Waters were worth $293,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO bought a new position in Waters during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Waters in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Waters by 190.2% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 119 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 19,900.0% in the 2nd quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 200 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new position in Waters in the second quarter worth about $59,000. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Waters from $330.00 to $310.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Waters in a report on Monday, June 3rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $320.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Waters to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Waters from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $325.00 to $375.00 in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $318.50.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of WAT stock opened at $336.69 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.04, a P/E/G ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $329.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $324.60. Waters Co. has a one year low of $231.90 and a one year high of $367.21. 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 (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) 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 return on equity of 56.81% and a net margin of 20.71%. Waters’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 11.6 EPS for the current 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.