Mengis Capital Management Inc. Decreases Holdings in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT)

Key Points

• Mengis Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Waters Corporation by 25%, selling 2,000 shares, and now owns 6,000 shares valued at approximately $2.21 million.
• Institutional investors significantly increased their stakes in Waters, with GAMMA Investing LLC boosting its position by 50,228.3% during the same period.
• Waters Corporation reported an EPS of $2.25, exceeding expectations and showing a revenue increase of 3.9% compared to the previous year.

Mengis Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) by 25.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 2,000 shares during the period. Mengis Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Waters were worth $2,211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WAT. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Waters by 85.7% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,642 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in Waters by 4.6% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 2,986 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,101,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in Waters by 4.1% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,813 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,774,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional purchased a new position in shares of Waters in the first quarter worth about $75,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 169.1% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,619 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $4,283,000 after buying an additional 7,301 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on WAT. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Waters in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Waters from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $420.00 to $330.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Waters from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Waters from $374.00 to $352.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Waters from $370.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Ten 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $382.40.

Waters Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of WAT traded up $2.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $290.77. The company had a trading volume of 1,201,345 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,116,492. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $332.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $355.08. Waters Corporation has a 52 week low of $279.61 and a 52 week high of $423.56. The company has a market capitalization of $17.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.10.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.03. Waters had a return on equity of 41.70% and a net margin of 22.02%. The firm had revenue of $661.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $655.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.21 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Waters Corporation will post 12.86 EPS for the current year.

Waters 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.