Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC Has $451,000 Stock Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,217 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 80 shares during the quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $451,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Waters in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Waters by 235.7% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Waters during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in Waters by 63.2% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 186 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new position in Waters during the 4th quarter worth $72,000. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Waters from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $355.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Waters in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $430.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $384.71.

Waters Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE WAT opened at $413.02 on Wednesday. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $279.24 and a 1 year high of $419.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market cap of $24.52 billion, a PE ratio of 39.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.17 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $384.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $356.56.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $740.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $712.99 million. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.84 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 11.79 EPS 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.