HighTower Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) by 15.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,077 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after purchasing an additional 1,776 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Waters were worth $4,851,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Waters by 106,144.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 3,087,461 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,145,386,000 after acquiring an additional 3,084,555 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $236,095,000 after acquiring an additional 271,804 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waters during the 4th quarter valued at $42,114,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Waters during the 4th quarter valued at $40,404,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Waters by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 305,661 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $110,005,000 after acquiring an additional 82,865 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company's stock.

Waters Price Performance

WAT stock traded up $2.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $365.75. The company had a trading volume of 864,995 shares, compared to its average volume of 440,291. The company has a market capitalization of $21.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. Waters Co. has a 12-month low of $279.24 and a 12-month high of $423.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $390.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $371.28.

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Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 21.56% and a return on equity of 46.31%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised shares of Waters from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $360.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Waters from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waters presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $391.07.

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.