Candriam S.C.A. Sells 289 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Candriam S.C.A. trimmed its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,978 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 289 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Waters were worth $2,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Waters by 34.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 159,995 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $57,579,000 after acquiring an additional 41,339 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Waters by 71.9% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 140,992 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $50,742,000 after buying an additional 58,983 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in Waters by 13.2% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,578 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $928,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in Waters by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 421,691 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $156,439,000 after buying an additional 27,801 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WAT. UBS Group lifted their target price on Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays upgraded shares of Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $360.00 to $415.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waters has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $391.07.

Waters Price Performance

WAT opened at $392.34 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $390.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $369.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.94. Waters Co. has a 52 week low of $279.24 and a 52 week high of $423.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.31 billion, a PE ratio of 36.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 21.56% and a return on equity of 46.31%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current 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.