Atria Investments Inc Has $1.13 Million Stock Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 10.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,141 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Waters were worth $1,130,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WAT. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waters by 70.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 656,019 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $236,095,000 after acquiring an additional 271,804 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in shares of Waters by 34.4% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 393,890 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $141,757,000 after acquiring an additional 100,811 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Waters by 21.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 448,304 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $130,053,000 after acquiring an additional 77,951 shares during the last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Waters by 3,627.0% in the third quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 68,987 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $24,828,000 after acquiring an additional 67,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Waters by 8.6% during 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 during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waters Trading Down 4.8 %

WAT opened at $358.46 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.20, a P/E/G ratio of 6.89 and a beta of 0.97. Waters Co. has a 12 month low of $258.89 and a 12 month high of $393.38. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $350.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $330.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued 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. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The firm had revenue of $740.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $712.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.84 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 11.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on WAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price 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. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Waters to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Waters has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $365.85.

Waters Company 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.