Natixis Advisors LLC Buys 15,622 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 11.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 156,614 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 15,622 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.26% of Waters worth $58,101,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in Waters in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 235.7% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 129.3% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Waters by 54.3% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 125 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Waters during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays upgraded shares of Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $360.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waters currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $391.07.

Waters Stock Performance

WAT opened at $378.18 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.47 billion, a PE ratio of 35.31, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. Waters Co. has a twelve month low of $279.24 and a twelve month high of $423.56. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $391.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $370.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 21.56% and a return on equity of 46.31%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS 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.