B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Purchases Shares of 4,532 Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 4,532 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $1,631,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAT. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Waters in the first quarter valued at approximately $10,106,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Waters by 96.8% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 868 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Waters by 61.6% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 6,584 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $2,267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,509 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in Waters by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 26,234 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $7,611,000 after acquiring an additional 2,086 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Waters by 21.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 448,304 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $130,053,000 after buying an additional 77,951 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company's stock.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of Waters stock traded up $4.97 on Friday, reaching $373.47. 366,273 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 575,703. The firm's 50 day moving average is $354.04 and its 200-day moving average is $331.94. Waters Co. has a one year low of $273.60 and a one year high of $393.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 2.02. The firm has a market cap of $22.18 billion, a PE ratio of 35.64, a P/E/G ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 0.97.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $740.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $712.99 million. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The firm's revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.84 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 11.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WAT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Waters from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $355.00 to $415.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Waters to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Waters from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Waters presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $365.85.

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.