Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Sold by OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd lowered its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 13.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 87,780 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 13,526 shares during the quarter. Waters accounts for 0.9% of OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd owned approximately 0.15% of Waters worth $31,591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Waters by 4.3% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 443,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $152,664,000 after acquiring an additional 18,274 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Waters in the first quarter worth $10,106,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waters by 67.5% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 10,382 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,574,000 after acquiring an additional 4,184 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Waters by 96.8% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 868 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 427 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Waters by 61.6% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 6,584 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,267,000 after buying an additional 2,509 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Stock Performance

NYSE:WAT opened at $380.74 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $347.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $328.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $22.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.33, a P/E/G ratio of 7.03 and a beta of 0.97. Waters Co. has a twelve month low of $249.34 and a twelve month high of $393.38.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.25. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The company had revenue of $740.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $712.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.84 earnings per share. Waters’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Cfra set a $389.00 price target on shares of Waters in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $365.85.

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.