Invesco Ltd. lowered its holdings in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 975,732 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 35,448 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned about 1.64% of Waters worth $361,977,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 106,144.4% in the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 3,087,461 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,145,386,000 after buying an additional 3,084,555 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Waters during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $284,415,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Waters in the fourth quarter worth approximately $104,645,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 70.7% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,654,002 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $984,582,000 after purchasing an additional 212,364 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WAT shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Waters from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $430.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $397.25.
View Our Latest Report on WAT
Waters Price Performance
Shares of Waters stock traded down $8.83 on Tuesday, hitting $324.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 134,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 474,605. The company has a market capitalization of $19.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.04. Waters Co. has a 52-week low of $279.24 and a 52-week high of $423.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $367.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $372.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.
Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 21.56% and a return on equity of 46.31%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Waters Company Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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