Mizuho Bank Ltd. Takes $67,000 Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Mizuho Bank Ltd. purchased a new position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 180 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $67,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAT. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Waters by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 81,653 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $29,386,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waters during the third quarter valued at approximately $229,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Waters by 13.2% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,578 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $928,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 4.4% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,747 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $989,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new position in Waters in the 3rd quarter valued at $256,000. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Baird R W raised shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Waters from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $396.00 to $407.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. UBS Group increased their price target on Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Waters from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $460.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $401.31.

Waters Stock Performance

NYSE:WAT opened at $324.57 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.30, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.94. Waters Co. has a fifty-two week low of $279.24 and a fifty-two week high of $423.56. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $381.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $373.15.

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 return on equity of 46.31% and a net margin of 21.56%. Equities research analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS for the current year.

Waters 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.