BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Decreases Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lowered its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) by 4.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 71,859 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 3,196 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned approximately 0.12% of Waters worth $25,861,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WAT. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waters by 70.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 656,019 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $236,095,000 after acquiring an additional 271,804 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 34.4% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 393,890 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $141,757,000 after buying an additional 100,811 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 21.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 448,304 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $130,053,000 after buying an additional 77,951 shares during the last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Waters by 3,627.0% during the third quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 68,987 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $24,828,000 after acquiring an additional 67,136 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Waters by 71.9% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 140,992 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $50,742,000 after acquiring an additional 58,983 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on WAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Waters from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waters currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $365.85.

Waters Trading Up 1.3 %

WAT stock traded up $4.97 during trading on Friday, hitting $373.47. The company had a trading volume of 366,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 575,703. The stock has a market cap of $22.18 billion, a PE ratio of 35.64, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 0.97. Waters Co. has a one year low of $273.60 and a one year high of $393.38. The business has a 50-day moving average of $354.04 and a 200-day moving average of $331.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $740.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $712.99 million. Waters had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 21.43%. Waters's revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.84 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 11.79 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.