Steele Capital Management Inc. Takes Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Steele Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 625 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WAT. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of Waters by 55.3% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 118 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Waters in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waters in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Waters by 300.0% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 144 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Waters in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:WAT traded down $2.91 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $312.18. 37,563 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 403,255. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.19 and a beta of 0.92. Waters Co. has a one year low of $231.90 and a one year high of $363.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $334.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $308.02.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $819.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $815.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.84 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waters news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 2,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $799,965. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

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.