Insider Selling: Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Director Sells 4,000 Shares of Stock

Posted by on May 23rd, 2022

Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT – Get Rating) Director Christopher A. Kuebler sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.78, for a total value of $1,315,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,064 shares in the company, valued at $4,623,961.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Shares of NYSE:WAT traded up $0.94 during trading on Monday, hitting $319.89. 4,351 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 404,331. Waters Co. has a 1-year low of $288.32 and a 1-year high of $428.22. The company has a market capitalization of $19.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $315.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $328.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.85, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.30.

Waters (NYSE:WAT – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 3rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.48. Waters had a return on equity of 221.08% and a net margin of 24.57%. The company had revenue of $690.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $634.08 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. Waters’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 12.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WAT shares. SVB Leerink cut their price objective on Waters from $375.00 to $350.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 2nd. StockNews.com started coverage on Waters in a research report on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $320.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Monday, April 25th. Cowen lifted their price target on Waters to $358.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays started coverage on Waters in a research report on Tuesday, May 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $375.00 price target on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waters currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $367.33.

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WAT. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Waters by 79.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,504,592 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $467,011,000 after buying an additional 666,851 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Waters in the 4th quarter valued at $189,516,000. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Waters by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,069,554 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,261,515,000 after buying an additional 331,610 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Waters by 16.9% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 928,808 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $331,863,000 after purchasing an additional 134,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Waters by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 969,123 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $361,093,000 after purchasing an additional 129,837 shares in the last quarter. 90.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Waters (Get Rating)

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.

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