JPL Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 7,855 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $2,914,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 127.0% during the 4th quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 25,380 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $9,414,000 after buying an additional 14,200 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,114 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $413,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 54.3% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 125 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Waters by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 13,077 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $4,851,000 after acquiring an additional 1,776 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natural Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waters during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $496,000. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WAT has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank raised Waters from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Waters from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $430.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $391.07.

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Waters Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of WAT stock opened at $372.92 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $391.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $369.80. Waters Co. has a fifty-two week low of $279.24 and a fifty-two week high of $423.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. 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 released its quarterly earnings results 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 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.

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