Amalgamated Bank Trims Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Amalgamated Bank trimmed its position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,621 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 774 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Waters were worth $4,814,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its stake in Waters by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 35,265 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $11,610,000 after acquiring an additional 2,818 shares during the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 55,615 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $18,507,000 after buying an additional 1,741 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its position in shares of Waters by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 3,306 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,088,000 after buying an additional 615 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 9,265 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,050,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC grew its position in Waters by 33.4% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,610 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $530,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waters Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of WAT opened at $326.06 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $333.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $310.76. Waters Co. has a twelve month low of $231.90 and a twelve month high of $363.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.05, a PEG ratio of 6.39 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of the firm’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 sale, the director now owns 2,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $799,965. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on WAT. Barclays lifted their price target on Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Waters from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.