Stiles Financial Services Inc Sells 100 Shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT)

Stiles Financial Services Inc reduced its stake in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 13.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 663 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Stiles Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Waters were worth $244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Waters by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,098,668 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,633,464,000 after acquiring an additional 19,456 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Waters by 106,144.4% during the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 3,087,461 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,145,386,000 after acquiring an additional 3,084,555 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Waters by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,654,002 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $984,582,000 after acquiring an additional 212,364 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Waters by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,451,445 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $537,053,000 after acquiring an additional 34,762 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Waters by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 889,306 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $329,911,000 after acquiring an additional 3,713 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of WAT opened at $342.49 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $344.56 and a 200 day moving average of $366.20. The company has a market capitalization of $20.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.08, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.11. Waters Corporation has a 12 month low of $279.24 and a 12 month high of $423.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.03. Waters had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 41.70%. The company had revenue of $661.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $655.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Waters Corporation will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on WAT. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Waters from $355.00 to $374.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $400.00 target price on Waters and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Baird R W upgraded Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Wall Street Zen lowered Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $390.19.

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.