Parthenon LLC Grows Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Parthenon LLC increased its stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,881 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Waters comprises about 1.5% of Parthenon LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Parthenon LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Waters worth $12,198,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Waters by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 159,995 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $57,579,000 after purchasing an additional 41,339 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC increased its holdings in Waters by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $632,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Waters by 71.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 140,992 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $50,742,000 after buying an additional 58,983 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in shares of Waters by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,578 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $928,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of Waters by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 12,874 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,776,000 after acquiring an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WAT. UBS Group raised their price objective on Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $390.40.

Waters Stock Performance

WAT stock opened at $377.30 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $388.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $365.18. The company has a market capitalization of $22.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.23, a PEG ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Waters Co. has a fifty-two week low of $279.24 and a fifty-two week high of $423.56.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 21.56% and a return on equity of 46.31%. Sell-side analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.