Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Sells 908 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,424 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 908 shares during the period. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $9,029,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WAT. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Waters during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waters in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 300.0% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 144 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waters in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waters in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on WAT. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Waters from $319.00 to $312.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Waters from $300.00 to $295.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Waters from $330.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Waters from $350.00 to $358.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Waters from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waters currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $306.70.

Insider Transactions at Waters

In other news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.54, for a total transaction of $177,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $799,965. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Waters Trading Down 0.7 %

WAT stock traded down $2.26 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $323.80. The stock had a trading volume of 398,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 420,346. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $333.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $310.76. 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 firm has a market cap of $19.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.01, a PEG ratio of 6.39 and a beta of 0.98. Waters Co. has a twelve month low of $231.90 and a twelve month high of $363.80.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $636.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $635.57 million. Waters had a return on equity of 81.30% and a net margin of 21.72%. The company’s revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.49 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 11.89 EPS 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.