Vontobel Holding Ltd. Sells 1,308 Shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lessened its holdings in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) by 51.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,230 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 1,308 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s holdings in Waters were worth $453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 106,144.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,084,555 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Waters by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,654,002 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $984,582,000 after acquiring an additional 212,364 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $537,053,000 after buying an additional 34,762 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Waters by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 889,306 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $329,911,000 after buying an additional 3,713 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Waters from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $400.00 target price on shares of Waters and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $360.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. KeyCorp raised shares of Waters from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $370.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $388.00.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of WAT opened at $346.35 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market cap of $20.61 billion, a PE ratio of 31.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $349.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $364.13. Waters Corporation has a 1-year low of $279.24 and a 1-year high of $423.56.

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

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