Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC Acquires 661 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 106.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,282 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 661 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 0.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 80,313 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $27,647,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd grew its holdings in Waters by 1.1% in 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 last quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. increased its position in shares of Waters by 0.9% in the first quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 7,807 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,687,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Guardian Capital LP raised its stake in shares of Waters by 36.6% during the first quarter. Guardian Capital LP now owns 11,934 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,108,000 after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 10.8% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,470 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,883,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Waters from $330.00 to $332.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Waters from $350.00 to $358.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Waters in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $320.00 price target for the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Waters from $295.00 to $275.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Waters from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $301.20.

Insider Activity

In other Waters news, Director Richard H. Fearon purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $332.90 per share, for a total transaction of $332,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $550,283.70. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Richard H. Fearon purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $332.90 per share, with a total value of $332,900.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $550,283.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Christopher A. Kuebler sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.64, for a total transaction of $1,446,560.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,321,894.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Waters Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE:WAT traded up $3.58 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $321.54. 556,502 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 443,844. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $231.90 and a 1 year high of $367.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.20, a P/E/G ratio of 5.07 and a beta of 0.95. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $304.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $320.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.11. Waters had a return on equity of 66.59% and a net margin of 20.75%. The firm had revenue of $636.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $635.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.49 EPS. Waters’s quarterly revenue was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 11.83 earnings per share 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.