Enterprise Financial Services Corp Sells 27 Shares of Waters Corporation (WAT)

Enterprise Financial Services Corp reduced its stake in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 2.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,060 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 27 shares during the period. Enterprise Financial Services Corp’s holdings in Waters Corporation were worth $195,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in Waters Corporation by 0.4% in the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 1,285 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $236,000 after buying an additional 5 shares in the last quarter. Cleararc Capital Inc. increased its stake in Waters Corporation by 0.6% in the first quarter. Cleararc Capital Inc. now owns 1,950 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its stake in Waters Corporation by 1.6% in the first quarter. Creative Planning now owns 744 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 12 shares in the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Waters Corporation by 1.1% in the first quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 1,516 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Waters Corporation by 4.4% in the first quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 822 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $124,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 91.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shares of Waters Corporation (WAT) opened at 173.44 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $13.87 billion, a PE ratio of 26.14 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $182.41 and a 200-day moving average of $165.85. Waters Corporation has a one year low of $133.35 and a one year high of $187.65.

Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.05. Waters Corporation had a net margin of 24.26% and a return on equity of 23.91%. The business had revenue of $558.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $553.22 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.58 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Waters Corporation will post $7.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waters Corporation declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 11th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical instruments supplier to reacquire up to 7.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price target (up from $170.00) on shares of Waters Corporation in a research note on Tuesday, April 25th. Cowen and Company reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Waters Corporation in a research note on Friday, July 14th. Barclays PLC set a $160.00 price target on shares of Waters Corporation and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of Waters Corporation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Monday, May 1st. Finally, Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Waters Corporation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $202.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Waters Corporation currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $186.00.

In other news, SVP Terrence P. Kelly sold 8,997 shares of Waters Corporation stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.59, for a total value of $1,561,789.23. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,990,035.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Terrence P. Kelly sold 19,580 shares of Waters Corporation stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.67, for a total transaction of $3,400,458.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,111,140.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 127,078 shares of company stock valued at $22,657,923. Company insiders own 5.07% of the company’s stock.

About Waters Corporation

Waters Corporation is an analytical instrument manufacturer. The Company operates through two segments: Waters and TA. It designs, manufactures, sells and services high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLC and together with HPLC, referred to as LC) and mass spectrometry (MS) technology systems and support products, including chromatography columns, other consumable products and post-warranty service plans.

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