Hutchinson Capital Management CA Sells 143 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Hutchinson Capital Management CA lessened its position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 49,826 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 143 shares during the period. Waters comprises approximately 3.5% of Hutchinson Capital Management CA’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Hutchinson Capital Management CA owned about 0.08% of Waters worth $18,484,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 106,144.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 3,087,461 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,145,386,000 after buying an additional 3,084,555 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 1.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,577,733 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $927,700,000 after buying an additional 49,194 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $318,717,000 after buying an additional 6,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 728,534 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $270,272,000 after buying an additional 72,515 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of WAT opened at $378.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $391.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $370.28. Waters Co. has a 52-week low of $279.24 and a 52-week high of $423.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.47 billion, a PE ratio of 35.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays raised Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $360.00 to $415.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $391.07.

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.