Blair William & Co. IL Reduces Stock Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Blair William & Co. IL lessened its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 12.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,948 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 565 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Waters were worth $1,222,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 181 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. ETF Managers Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. ETF Managers Group LLC now owns 2,324 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $720,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 520 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $161,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 6,995 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,166,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 372 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waters

In other Waters news, Director Christopher A. Kuebler sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.48, for a total transaction of $1,165,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,192,065.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WAT. Barclays boosted their price objective on Waters from $275.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Waters in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waters currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $319.13.

Waters Stock Performance

NYSE WAT opened at $270.30 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.84, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.87. Waters Co. has a twelve month low of $248.18 and a twelve month high of $353.70. The company has a current ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $277.97 and a 200 day moving average of $284.79.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.21. Waters had a return on equity of 124.03% and a net margin of 22.54%. The business had revenue of $740.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $733.51 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 12.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waters Company Profile

Waters Corporation, a specialty measurement company, 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.