Meridian Wealth Management LLC Invests $3.15 Million in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 8,759 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $3,152,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 70.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 656,019 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $236,095,000 after acquiring an additional 271,804 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 100,811 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 21.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 77,951 shares during the period. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 3,627.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 67,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Waters by 71.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 140,992 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $50,742,000 after buying an additional 58,983 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on WAT. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Waters from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Waters from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $355.00 to $415.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Leerink Partners raised Waters from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Cfra set a $389.00 price objective on shares of Waters in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waters currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $365.85.

Waters Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WAT traded up $4.97 on Friday, hitting $373.47. 366,273 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 575,703. The company 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. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $354.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $331.94. Waters Co. has a 52 week low of $273.60 and a 52 week high of $393.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.02 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $740.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $712.99 million. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.84 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 11.79 earnings per share 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.