Kensington Investment Counsel LLC Has $1.74 Million Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Kensington Investment Counsel LLC cut its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) by 32.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,687 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 2,221 shares during the quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in Waters were worth $1,739,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Waters by 34.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 159,995 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $57,579,000 after purchasing an additional 41,339 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in Waters by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $632,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in Waters by 13.2% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,578 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $928,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in Waters by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 421,691 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $156,439,000 after purchasing an additional 27,801 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Waters by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 12,874 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $4,776,000 after purchasing an additional 782 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on WAT. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waters from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Waters from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Waters from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $430.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $391.07.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of WAT stock traded up $2.53 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $365.75. 864,995 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 440,012. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.15, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. 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 firm's 50 day moving average price is $390.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $371.06. Waters Co. has a 52 week low of $279.24 and a 52 week high of $423.56.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 21.56% and a return on equity of 46.31%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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.