Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Sold by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can lowered its stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 100,990 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 3,817 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned approximately 0.17% of Waters worth $37,465,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Waters by 106,144.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 3,087,461 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,145,386,000 after buying an additional 3,084,555 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Waters during the 4th quarter worth about $284,415,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Waters during the 4th quarter valued at about $104,645,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Waters by 70.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 656,019 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $236,095,000 after purchasing an additional 271,804 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Waters by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,654,002 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $984,582,000 after buying an additional 212,364 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WAT. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Waters from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $430.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Baird R W raised shares of Waters from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Waters from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $397.25.

Waters Stock Down 0.2 %

WAT traded down $0.81 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $322.64. The stock had a trading volume of 76,003 shares, compared to its average volume of 516,563. Waters Co. has a twelve month low of $279.24 and a twelve month high of $423.56. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $365.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $371.98. 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 company has a market capitalization of $19.20 billion, a PE ratio of 30.12, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.04.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 EPS 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current 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.