Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Sold by Pitcairn Co.

Pitcairn Co. trimmed its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,074 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 69 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Waters were worth $398,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAT. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in shares of Waters by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,587 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,331,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Waters by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 159,995 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $57,579,000 after buying an additional 41,339 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC increased its position in Waters by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $632,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 13.2% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,578 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $928,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Waters by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 421,691 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $156,439,000 after acquiring an additional 27,801 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Waters from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $396.00 to $407.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $401.31.

Waters Price Performance

Waters stock opened at $324.57 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.30, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $381.53 and a 200-day moving average of $373.46. Waters Co. has a 52-week low of $279.24 and a 52-week high of $423.56.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 predict that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS for the current year.

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.