Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Purchases 37,234 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 186.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,183 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,234 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned 0.10% of Waters worth $21,214,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Waters by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,098,668 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,633,464,000 after acquiring an additional 19,456 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Waters by 106,144.4% in the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 3,087,461 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,145,386,000 after purchasing an additional 3,084,555 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Waters by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,654,002 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $984,582,000 after purchasing an additional 212,364 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Waters by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,451,445 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $537,053,000 after buying an additional 34,762 shares during the period. Finally, AKO Capital LLP lifted its position in shares of Waters by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. AKO Capital LLP now owns 815,379 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $302,489,000 after buying an additional 25,172 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WAT. UBS Group cut their price objective on Waters from $415.00 to $360.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays decreased their price target on Waters from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waters has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $390.19.

Waters Price Performance

Waters stock opened at $343.73 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.09, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $349.55 and a 200-day moving average of $370.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $279.24 and a 1 year high of $423.56.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.03. Waters had a net margin of 21.56% and a return on equity of 46.31%. The company had revenue of $661.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $655.50 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS for the current year.

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.