Cannell & Spears LLC Has $2.48 Million Stock Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Cannell & Spears LLC lowered its position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,689 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 250 shares during the quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $2,481,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waters by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,587 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,331,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased 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 valued at $57,579,000 after purchasing an additional 41,339 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC raised its position in Waters by 3.8% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in Waters by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,578 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $928,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Waters by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 421,691 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $156,439,000 after buying an additional 27,801 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on WAT shares. Barclays upgraded Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $360.00 to $415.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised Waters from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $396.00 to $407.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $401.31.

Waters Stock Performance

WAT opened at $368.53 on Tuesday. Waters Co. has a 1-year low of $279.24 and a 1-year high of $423.56. The company has a market cap of $21.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $386.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $373.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 12.86 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.