Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Sells 34 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 694 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 34 shares during the period. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $257,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WAT. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in Waters during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in Waters during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Waters during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Waters by 235.7% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Waters during the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on WAT shares. StockNews.com lowered Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank raised Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $390.40.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of WAT stock opened at $377.22 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.22, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.01. Waters Co. has a fifty-two week low of $279.24 and a fifty-two week high of $423.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $390.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $367.30.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a return on equity of 46.31% and a net margin of 21.56%. Analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current year.

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.