Advisory Services Network LLC Has $283,000 Stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Advisory Services Network LLC cut its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 6.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 763 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 53 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $283,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Advisory Alpha LLC raised its position in shares of Waters by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 1,065 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Waters by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 966 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waters by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 9,610 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,565,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 353 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Waters by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 537 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $199,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WAT shares. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Waters from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $396.00 to $407.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group increased their target price on Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Ten investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $395.38.

Waters Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:WAT opened at $320.90 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $360.29 and a 200-day moving average of $371.11. Waters Co. has a one year low of $279.24 and a one year high of $423.56. The stock has a market cap of $19.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share 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.