Xponance Inc. Sells 102 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Xponance Inc. lessened its stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 11,601 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 102 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Waters were worth $4,304,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 34.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 159,995 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $57,579,000 after buying an additional 41,339 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC raised its position in Waters by 3.8% in 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 during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,578 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $928,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Waters by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 421,691 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $156,439,000 after acquiring an additional 27,801 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of Waters by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 12,874 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,776,000 after purchasing an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on WAT shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank raised shares of Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $360.00 to $415.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $391.07.

Waters Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE WAT opened at $363.44 on Friday. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $279.24 and a 1 year high of $423.56. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $391.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $370.92. The company has a market cap of $21.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.93, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 21.56% and a return on equity of 46.31%. Research analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current 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.