Newport Trust Company LLC Has $59.59 Million Stock Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Newport Trust Company LLC decreased its position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 205,411 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 1,606 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC owned about 0.35% of Waters worth $59,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waters by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,879,316 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,368,067,000 after purchasing an additional 41,654 shares in the last quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 1,110,898 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $382,404,000 after acquiring an additional 11,851 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Waters by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 652,892 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $189,417,000 after acquiring an additional 51,853 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Waters in the fourth quarter valued at about $206,286,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Waters by 21.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 448,304 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $130,053,000 after purchasing an additional 77,951 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on WAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Waters from $330.00 to $310.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Waters to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Waters in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $380.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Waters from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $318.50.

Waters Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of WAT opened at $338.60 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $328.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $324.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.23, a PEG ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.95. Waters Co. has a 52 week low of $231.90 and a 52 week high of $367.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 2.10.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $709.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $700.09 million. Waters had a return on equity of 56.81% and a net margin of 20.71%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.80 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 11.6 earnings per share 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.