Rhumbline Advisers Sells 3,416 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Rhumbline Advisers reduced its stake in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 116,153 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 3,416 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Waters were worth $43,090,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Waters during the fourth quarter worth about $2,578,000. Avestar Capital LLC bought a new stake in Waters in the 4th quarter worth approximately $260,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors purchased a new stake in Waters in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,909,000. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Waters by 41.4% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Waters by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $632,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WAT. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Waters currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $390.40.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of WAT opened at $369.71 on Tuesday. Waters Co. has a 52 week low of $279.24 and a 52 week high of $423.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $21.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.28, a P/E/G ratio of 7.37 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $389.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $364.87.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.