Bessemer Group Inc. Raises Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 67.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,382 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,184 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Waters were worth $3,574,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 7.7% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 35,605 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $12,256,000 after purchasing an additional 2,550 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 19.5% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 3,718 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,280,000 after buying an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Waters during the first quarter worth about $282,000. TIAA Trust National Association grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 21.6% during the first quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 1,064 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $366,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,879,316 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,368,067,000 after buying an additional 41,654 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Richard H. Fearon bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $332.90 per share, with a total value of $332,900.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 1,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $550,283.70. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Richard H. Fearon bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $332.90 per share, with a total value of $332,900.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 1,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $550,283.70. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Christopher A. Kuebler sold 4,000 shares of Waters stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.64, for a total transaction of $1,446,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,321,894.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Waters from $319.00 to $312.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Waters in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $320.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $332.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Waters from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Waters from $295.00 to $275.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $301.20.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of Waters stock traded up $4.30 during trading on Thursday, hitting $309.61. 45,853 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 441,979. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. Waters Co. has a fifty-two week low of $231.90 and a fifty-two week high of $367.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.98, a P/E/G ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $306.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $320.74.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.11. Waters had a return on equity of 66.59% and a net margin of 20.75%. The firm had revenue of $636.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $635.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.49 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 11.83 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.