Allstate Corp Makes New Investment in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Allstate Corp bought a new stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,792 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $665,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in shares of Waters by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,587 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,331,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Waters by 34.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 159,995 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $57,579,000 after acquiring an additional 41,339 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in Waters by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $632,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $928,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 421,691 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $156,439,000 after acquiring an additional 27,801 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Waters from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $396.00 to $407.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Waters from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $460.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Baird R W raised Waters from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Waters from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $360.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $401.31.

Waters Stock Down 5.0 %

Shares of Waters stock traded down $17.97 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $344.67. The company had a trading volume of 1,014,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 459,213. The company has a 50 day moving average of $384.62 and a 200 day moving average of $373.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. Waters Co. has a 52-week low of $279.24 and a 52-week high of $423.56. 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 (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.