Bank of New York Mellon Corp Trims Stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp cut its stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,881,756 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 135,809 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Waters were worth $698,094,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WAT. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,577,733 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $927,700,000 after purchasing an additional 49,194 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Waters by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,416,683 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $508,123,000 after buying an additional 16,703 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Waters by 0.7% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 885,593 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $318,717,000 after acquiring an additional 6,256 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 728,534 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $270,272,000 after acquiring an additional 72,515 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 714,155 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $264,937,000 after acquiring an additional 68,509 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Stock Up 0.5 %

WAT stock opened at $381.31 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $389.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $366.82. Waters Co. has a 12 month low of $279.24 and a 12 month high of $423.56. The company has a market cap of $22.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.60, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.01.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WAT. Scotiabank raised Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America decreased their target price on Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Eleven research 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $390.40.

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.