IMPACTfolio LLC Buys New Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

IMPACTfolio LLC purchased a new stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 559 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waters by 70.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 656,019 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $236,095,000 after purchasing an additional 271,804 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 100,811 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Waters by 37.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 305,661 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $110,005,000 after buying an additional 82,865 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Waters by 21.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 448,304 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $130,053,000 after acquiring an additional 77,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Applied Finance Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 3,627.0% during the 3rd 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 period. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of Waters stock traded down $1.86 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $369.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 210,168 shares, compared to its average volume of 441,656. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $371.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $342.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The stock has a market cap of $21.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.22, a P/E/G ratio of 6.92 and a beta of 1.01. Waters Co. has a one year low of $279.24 and a one year high of $397.02.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $740.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $712.99 million. Waters had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 21.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.84 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 11.79 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on WAT. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Cfra set a $389.00 price objective on Waters in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen upped 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. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $355.00 to $415.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $379.71.

About Waters

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.