C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors Invests $2.91 Million in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,469 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $2,909,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Waters by 1.9% during the 3rd 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 grew its position in shares of Waters by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,416,683 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $508,123,000 after buying an additional 16,703 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Waters by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 885,593 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $318,717,000 after buying an additional 6,256 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Waters by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 728,534 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $270,272,000 after buying an additional 72,515 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Waters by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 659,539 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $219,811,000 after buying an additional 6,647 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WAT. UBS Group increased their price target on Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. 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 report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays raised Waters from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price objective for the company 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, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $390.40.

Waters Stock Down 1.7 %

Waters stock traded down $6.57 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $374.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 272,138 shares, compared to its average volume of 452,951. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $388.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $365.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Waters Co. has a 52-week low of $279.24 and a 52-week high of $423.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.94, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 1.01.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS for the current 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.