Wells Fargo & Company MN Buys 4,700 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,502 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after acquiring an additional 4,700 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned about 0.12% of Waters worth $26,897,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WAT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Waters by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,098,668 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $2,633,464,000 after buying an additional 19,456 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its position 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 valued at $1,145,386,000 after buying an additional 3,084,555 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Waters by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,654,002 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $984,582,000 after buying an additional 212,364 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Waters by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,451,445 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $537,053,000 after acquiring an additional 34,762 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AKO Capital LLP lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. AKO Capital LLP now owns 815,379 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $302,489,000 after acquiring an additional 25,172 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Waters from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Baird R W raised shares of Waters from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $397.25.

Waters Stock Down 3.1 %

Waters stock traded down $10.32 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $323.45. 468,269 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 475,891. Waters Co. has a 52-week low of $279.24 and a 52-week 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 business's 50-day moving average price is $367.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $372.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.04.

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, 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, research analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waters 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.