Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Trims Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its stake in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) by 11.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,138,892 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 278,980 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 3.60% of Waters worth $769,766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Waters during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Waters during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 190.2% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 119 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waters during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 19,900.0% during the 2nd quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 200 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Waters from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Cfra set a $389.00 price target on shares of Waters in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Waters from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Waters from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $365.85.

Waters Trading Up 1.3 %

WAT traded up $4.97 during trading on Friday, reaching $373.47. The company had a trading volume of 364,785 shares, compared to its average volume of 436,042. The stock has a market cap of $22.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.64, a PEG ratio of 6.31 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $354.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $331.94. Waters Co. has a 52 week low of $273.60 and a 52 week high of $393.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $740.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $712.99 million. Waters had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 21.43%. Waters's revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.84 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 11.79 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.