Citigroup Inc. Trims Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Citigroup Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 9.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 74,088 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 7,294 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Waters worth $26,664,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Waters by 1.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 659,539 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $219,811,000 after buying an additional 6,647 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Waters by 70.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 656,019 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $236,095,000 after acquiring an additional 271,804 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Waters by 21.0% during the 2nd 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 period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in Waters by 34.4% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 393,890 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $141,757,000 after acquiring an additional 100,811 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Waters by 2.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 384,641 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $138,428,000 after purchasing an additional 7,865 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WAT. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Waters from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $355.00 to $415.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Waters to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waters has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $365.85.

Waters Stock Up 1.3 %

WAT stock opened at $378.48 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $22.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.11, a PEG ratio of 6.83 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Waters Co. has a twelve month low of $273.60 and a twelve month high of $393.38. The company’s 50 day moving average is $355.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $332.34.

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

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.