Waters Corporation $WAT Shares Bought by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. boosted its position in shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 10.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,175 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 871 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Waters were worth $3,233,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Waters by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,272,252 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,680,334,000 after acquiring an additional 173,584 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Waters by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,070,671 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,131,757,000 after acquiring an additional 416,669 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Waters by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,066,482 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $761,643,000 after acquiring an additional 123,215 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Waters by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,112,128 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $409,897,000 after acquiring an additional 136,396 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Waters by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 739,630 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $272,605,000 after acquiring an additional 15,563 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of Waters stock opened at $358.79 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Waters Corporation has a twelve month low of $275.05 and a twelve month high of $423.56. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $311.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $323.80. The firm has a market cap of $21.36 billion, a PE ratio of 32.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.04.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 19th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.29 earnings per share for the quarter. Waters had a return on equity of 38.60% and a net margin of 21.71%.The firm had revenue of $608.55 million during the quarter. Sell-side analysts predict that Waters Corporation will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Waters from $374.00 to $352.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Waters in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Waters from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector outperform” rating and issued a $465.00 price objective on shares of Waters in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $385.00 price objective on Waters and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.80.

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.