Vanguard Group Inc. Has $2.63 Billion Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,098,668 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,456 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Waters worth $2,633,464,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Advisory Alpha LLC increased its position in Waters by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 1,065 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its position in Waters by 2.4% during the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,198 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Waters by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 966 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Waters by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 9,610 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,565,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Waters by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 353 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WAT. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays raised Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $360.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waters currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $391.07.

Waters Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of WAT opened at $368.21 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.38, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. Waters Co. has a one year low of $279.24 and a one year high of $423.56. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $389.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $372.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS 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.