Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Sold by LaFleur & Godfrey LLC

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC lowered its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,144 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 190 shares during the period. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $1,537,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 100,811 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position 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 worth $110,005,000 after purchasing an additional 82,865 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake 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 worth $130,053,000 after purchasing an additional 77,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Applied Finance Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $24,828,000 after buying an additional 67,136 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on WAT. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Waters from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Waters in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $430.00 price objective on the stock. Cfra set a $389.00 price objective on shares of Waters in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $355.00 to $415.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $384.71.

Waters Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:WAT opened at $403.85 on Monday. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $279.24 and a 1 year high of $411.58. The business has a fifty day moving average of $378.42 and a 200-day moving average of $350.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 2.02. The stock has a market cap of $23.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.54, a PEG ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 1.01.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $740.30 million for 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%. Waters’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.84 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 11.79 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.