Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Acquires 400 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 42.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,337 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WAT. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 9.7% during 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 increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 95,577 shares in the last quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 41,638 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 550,112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,194 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waters Stock Down 3.0 %

WAT stock opened at $304.18 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $18.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.04, a P/E/G ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $337.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $305.46. Waters Co. has a 1-year low of $231.90 and a 1-year high of $363.80.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI boosted 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. Barclays lifted their target price on Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Waters from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waters currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $298.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waters

In other Waters news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.54, for a total value of $177,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $799,965. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

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.