Amundi Sells 19,508 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Amundi trimmed its holdings in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 6.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 280,441 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 19,508 shares during the quarter. Amundi’s holdings in Waters were worth $104,941,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAT. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Waters during the third quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Waters by 16.5% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,200 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $432,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc boosted its position in shares of Waters by 10.3% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 3,141 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,130,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Waters in the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of Waters in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on WAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays upgraded shares of Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $360.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $391.07.

Waters Price Performance

Waters stock opened at $390.52 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $23.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.46, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $391.02 and its 200 day moving average is $369.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Waters Co. has a 52-week low of $279.24 and a 52-week high of $423.56.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 21.56% and a return on equity of 46.31%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Waters

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.