Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Purchased by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,654,002 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 212,364 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 4.47% of Waters worth $984,582,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WAT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Waters by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,098,668 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,633,464,000 after acquiring an additional 19,456 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Waters by 106,144.4% during the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 3,087,461 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,145,386,000 after purchasing an additional 3,084,555 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Waters by 1.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,577,733 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $927,700,000 after buying an additional 49,194 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,416,683 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $508,123,000 after buying an additional 16,703 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 0.7% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 885,593 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $318,717,000 after buying an additional 6,256 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WAT shares. Baird R W upgraded shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. StockNews.com cut Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $397.40.

Waters Stock Down 2.4 %

WAT stock opened at $361.61 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $21.48 billion, a PE ratio of 33.76, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $279.24 and a 1 year high of $423.56. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $387.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $372.92. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a return on equity of 46.31% and a net margin of 21.56%. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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.