Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) is Cambiar Investors LLC’s 7th Largest Position

Cambiar Investors LLC lowered its position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 1.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 167,006 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 3,228 shares during the quarter. Waters accounts for approximately 2.3% of Cambiar Investors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Cambiar Investors LLC owned 0.28% of Waters worth $60,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Linscomb Wealth Inc. boosted its stake in Waters by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 7,841 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,275,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,084 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,170 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 13,087 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,797,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,782 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Trading Up 19.8 %

Shares of WAT stock opened at $387.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 2.10. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $241.40 and a 1 year high of $389.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $342.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $325.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.98 billion, a PE ratio of 38.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.35 and a beta of 0.97.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $709.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $700.09 million. Waters had a return on equity of 56.81% and a net margin of 20.71%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 11.6 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WAT shares. Leerink Partnrs raised Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $355.00 to $415.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Leerink Partners upgraded Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $325.00 to $375.00 in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Waters in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $380.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Waters to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $342.58.

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.