abrdn plc Grows Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

abrdn plc grew its holdings in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 3.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 263,563 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 7,611 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in Waters were worth $94,738,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in Waters in the 3rd quarter worth about $417,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Waters by 2.5% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 21,573 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $7,764,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC increased its holdings in Waters by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 1,355 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $488,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden lifted its stake in Waters by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 13,600 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,895,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Waters by 28.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,133 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,834,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Stock Performance

Waters stock opened at $324.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $341.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $324.73. Waters Co. has a twelve month low of $234.04 and a twelve month high of $367.21. The company has a market capitalization of $19.27 billion, a PE ratio of 32.34, a P/E/G ratio of 6.38 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.08. Waters had a return on equity of 56.81% and a net margin of 20.71%. The company had revenue of $709.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $700.09 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.80 EPS. Waters’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 11.6 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Cfra set a $389.00 price target on shares of Waters in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Waters to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $355.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $342.58.

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.