Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Stake Lessened by Baillie Gifford & Co.

Baillie Gifford & Co. cut its stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 55,106 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 207 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned approximately 0.09% of Waters worth $18,143,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 9.7% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,889 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $15,325,000 after acquiring an additional 4,936 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in Waters by 295.9% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 127,879 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $42,102,000 after purchasing an additional 95,577 shares during the last quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Waters by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc. now owns 227,250 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $74,818,000 after purchasing an additional 41,638 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Waters by 129.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 973,537 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $322,017,000 after purchasing an additional 550,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its stake in Waters by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 13,066 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,302,000 after purchasing an additional 3,194 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Waters

In other news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $799,965. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waters Stock Down 2.3 %

WAT stock opened at $337.15 on Thursday. Waters Co. has a 12-month low of $231.90 and a 12-month high of $363.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The company has a market cap of $19.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.07, a PEG ratio of 6.75 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50 day moving average of $337.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $303.80.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on WAT. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Waters from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Waters from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Waters in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Waters from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $298.67.

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.