Bailard Inc. Buys 280 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Bailard Inc. increased its stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 14.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,224 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Waters were worth $732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. IMPACTfolio LLC raised its stake in Waters by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. IMPACTfolio LLC now owns 803 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in Waters by 55.3% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 118 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its stake in Waters by 3.9% in the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,180 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in Waters by 35.2% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 173 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Waters by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,413 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $465,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of WAT opened at $311.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.14 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $334.78 and a 200 day moving average of $307.01. Waters Co. has a twelve month low of $231.90 and a twelve month high of $363.80.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.56 by $0.06. Waters had a net margin of 21.72% and a return on equity of 81.30%. The company had revenue of $819.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $815.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.84 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waters news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of Waters stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.54, for a total value of $177,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $799,965. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WAT shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Waters from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Waters from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $298.67.

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.