Prio Wealth Limited Partnership Lowers Stock Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Prio Wealth Limited Partnership reduced its position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,040 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 325 shares during the period. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership’s holdings in Waters were worth $1,752,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Foguth Wealth Management LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Waters during the 1st quarter valued at $2,773,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waters during the 4th quarter valued at $962,000. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH grew its stake in shares of Waters by 2,134.3% during the 1st quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 5,921 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,038,000 after buying an additional 5,656 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waters by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,837,662 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,251,163,000 after buying an additional 64,525 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of Waters by 223.8% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,222 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,707,000 after buying an additional 5,683 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on WAT shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Waters to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Waters in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $380.00 price target for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waters presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $327.00.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of WAT stock opened at $355.05 on Thursday. Waters Co. has a 12 month low of $231.90 and a 12 month 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.84, a P/E/G ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $336.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $324.32.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $709.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $700.09 million. Waters had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 56.81%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.80 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 11.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.