Impax Asset Management Group plc Trims Stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Impax Asset Management Group plc lowered its position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 744,663 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 30,877 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in Waters were worth $245,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WAT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,689,208 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,076,263,000 after purchasing an additional 30,274 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 1.4% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,520,629 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $965,392,000 after purchasing an additional 48,740 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 1.2% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,619,676 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $698,248,000 after purchasing an additional 29,920 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 37.2% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,018,487 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $538,008,000 after purchasing an additional 547,777 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 79.6% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,504,592 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $467,011,000 after purchasing an additional 666,851 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Waters in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Waters from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Waters from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Waters from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $298.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.54, for a total transaction of $177,770.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,250 shares in the company, valued at $799,965. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Waters Stock Up 1.8 %

NYSE:WAT traded up $5.99 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $345.03. 295,544 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 404,607. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.43 billion, a PE ratio of 31.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.69 and a beta of 0.92. Waters Co. has a 12-month low of $231.90 and a 12-month high of $363.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 2.22. The business has a 50-day moving average of $336.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $303.03.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.56 by $0.06. Waters had a return on equity of 81.30% and a net margin of 21.72%. The firm had revenue of $819.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $815.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.84 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waters Company 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.