Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Buys 291 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 1.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,984 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Waters were worth $8,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Waters by 55.1% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,765 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $5,083,000 after purchasing an additional 5,248 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Waters by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 443,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $152,664,000 after acquiring an additional 18,274 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Waters in the 1st quarter valued at about $10,106,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Waters by 67.5% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 10,382 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,574,000 after acquiring an additional 4,184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Duality Advisers LP bought a new position in Waters in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,028,000. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Waters to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Waters from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $365.85.

Waters Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of WAT stock opened at $386.17 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $345.80 and a 200-day moving average of $327.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Waters Co. has a 12-month low of $246.35 and a 12-month high of $393.38. The firm has a market cap of $22.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.85, a PEG ratio of 7.50 and a beta of 0.97.

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, topping 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 company had revenue of $740.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $712.99 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.84 EPS. Waters’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 11.67 earnings per share for the current year.

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.