Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Sells 13,202 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lowered its position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 3.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 361,580 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 13,202 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Waters were worth $96,376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WAT. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in Waters by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 77,165 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $20,568,000 after purchasing an additional 4,949 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Waters by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 1,287 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Waters by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 317,632 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $84,654,000 after purchasing an additional 15,513 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management bought a new position in Waters in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,400,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in Waters by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 146,673 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $39,094,000 after purchasing an additional 6,037 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Price Performance

WAT stock opened at $261.04 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $260.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $267.56. The stock has a market cap of $15.44 billion, a PE ratio of 23.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.83 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.71. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $231.90 and a 1 year high of $353.70.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.56 by $0.28. Waters had a return on equity of 102.22% and a net margin of 21.80%. The firm had revenue of $711.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $722.27 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.64 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 11.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TheStreet cut shares of Waters from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Waters from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Waters in a report on Thursday, September 28th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Waters from $305.00 to $290.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 8th. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Waters from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $270.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, November 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $298.00.

Waters Company Profile

Waters Corporation, a specialty measurement company, 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.