Toroso Investments LLC Acquires 147 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Toroso Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 4.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,367 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Toroso Investments LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $1,043,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Waters by 10.2% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,977 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,165,000 after acquiring an additional 645 shares in the last quarter. Group One Trading L.P. bought a new position in shares of Waters during the 1st quarter worth about $135,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its position in shares of Waters by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 8,167 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,535,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Waters by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 294,027 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $91,287,000 after buying an additional 4,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC increased its position in Waters by 39.4% in the 1st quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 4,626 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after buying an additional 1,308 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Price Performance

WAT opened at $273.39 on Tuesday. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $248.18 and a 1 year high of $353.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.35, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 1.41. The company has a market capitalization of $16.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $278.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $281.87.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.59 by $0.21. Waters had a net margin of 22.54% and a return on equity of 124.03%. The business had revenue of $740.58 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $733.51 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 12.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on WAT. StockNews.com began coverage on Waters in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Waters from $275.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waters presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $319.13.

Insider Activity at Waters

In other news, Director Christopher A. Kuebler sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.48, for a total transaction of $1,165,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,192,065.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Waters

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.