Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. Trims Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. trimmed its position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 735 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 65 shares during the period. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Waters were worth $273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAT. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waters by 70.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 656,019 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $236,095,000 after acquiring an additional 271,804 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in shares of Waters by 34.4% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 393,890 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $141,757,000 after acquiring an additional 100,811 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Waters by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 305,661 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $110,005,000 after acquiring an additional 82,865 shares during the last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Waters by 3,627.0% during the 3rd quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 68,987 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $24,828,000 after acquiring an additional 67,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smith Group Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waters during the 4th quarter valued at about $22,188,000. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $390.40.

Waters Stock Performance

Waters stock opened at $374.24 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $388.85 and a 200-day moving average of $365.60. Waters Co. has a 52 week low of $279.24 and a 52 week high of $423.56. The stock has a market cap of $22.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a return on equity of 46.31% and a net margin of 21.56%. On average, analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS 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.