Primecap Management Co. CA Sells 400 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Primecap Management Co. CA cut its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 0.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 98,459 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 400 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA’s holdings in Waters were worth $35,434,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WAT. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Waters during the first quarter worth approximately $10,106,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 67.5% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 10,382 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,574,000 after purchasing an additional 4,184 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Waters by 96.8% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 868 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in Waters by 61.6% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 6,584 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,267,000 after buying an additional 2,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in Waters by 8.6% during the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 26,234 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $7,611,000 after buying an additional 2,086 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WAT. Cfra set a $389.00 target price on shares of Waters in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Waters to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $365.85.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of Waters stock opened at $368.00 on Friday. Waters Co. has a 12 month low of $273.60 and a 12 month high of $393.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $353.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $331.57. The firm has a market cap of $21.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.11, a P/E/G ratio of 6.31 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The business had revenue of $740.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $712.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.84 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.