Sheets Smith Wealth Management Sells 500 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management cut its stake in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 22.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,728 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Waters were worth $641,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Summit Trail Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Waters by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,198 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Waters by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 851 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its stake in Waters by 2.4% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 1,340 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $482,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Waters by 0.9% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 3,998 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,439,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in Waters by 1.4% in the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,782 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,001,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Stock Down 1.3 %

WAT stock opened at $408.40 on Thursday. Waters Co. has a 1-year low of $279.24 and a 1-year high of $416.24. The stock has a market cap of $24.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.97, a P/E/G ratio of 7.24 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $379.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $352.73. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $740.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $712.99 million. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.84 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 11.79 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WAT. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Waters from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Waters from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $384.71.

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.