Waldron Private Wealth LLC Buys Shares of 603 Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Waldron Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 603 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,879,316 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,368,067,000 after purchasing an additional 41,654 shares during the last quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 11,851 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 8.6% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 652,892 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $189,417,000 after buying an additional 51,853 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Waters by 21.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 448,304 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $130,053,000 after acquiring an additional 77,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 4.3% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 443,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $152,664,000 after purchasing an additional 18,274 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WAT opened at $333.28 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $342.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $325.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 2.10. Waters Co. has a one year low of $231.90 and a one year high of $367.21. The firm has a market cap of $19.77 billion, a PE ratio of 32.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.85 and a beta of 0.95.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.08. Waters had a return on equity of 56.81% and a net margin of 20.71%. The business had revenue of $709.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $700.09 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. Waters’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 11.6 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on WAT. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Waters to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Waters from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $355.00 to $415.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Cfra set a $389.00 price target on shares of Waters in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $342.58.

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.