Waters Corporation $WAT Shares Sold by Motley Fool Asset Management LLC

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 4.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,942 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 1,690 shares during the quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $13,243,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Waters by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,272,252 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,680,334,000 after buying an additional 173,584 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Waters by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,070,671 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,131,757,000 after buying an additional 416,669 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Waters by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,066,482 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $761,643,000 after buying an additional 123,215 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Waters by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,112,128 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $409,897,000 after buying an additional 136,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Waters by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 739,630 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $272,605,000 after buying an additional 15,563 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank reissued a “sector outperform” rating and set a $465.00 price target on shares of Waters in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $315.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $385.00 target price on shares of Waters and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waters in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Waters currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.80.

Waters Price Performance

NYSE:WAT opened at $352.47 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $20.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $312.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $323.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Waters Corporation has a 1-year low of $275.05 and a 1-year high of $423.56.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 19th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.29 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $608.55 million during the quarter. Waters had a net margin of 21.71% and a return on equity of 38.60%. Equities research analysts forecast that Waters Corporation will post 12.86 EPS for the current year.

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.