Boston Family Office LLC Acquires 166 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Boston Family Office LLC raised its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 22.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 922 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 166 shares during the quarter. Boston Family Office LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Waters by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 10,697 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,850,000 after buying an additional 1,153 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Waters by 2.4% during the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,198 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in shares of Waters by 3.4% during the third quarter. Capital Investment Counsel LLC now owns 15,088 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $5,430,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Waters by 59.7% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 503 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $181,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of Waters by 6.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 31,288 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $11,260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,929 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WAT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Waters to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Waters from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $355.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Waters from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waters has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $365.85.

Waters Stock Performance

NYSE WAT opened at $378.48 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $22.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.83 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $355.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $332.34. Waters Co. has a twelve month low of $273.60 and a twelve month high of $393.38.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $740.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $712.99 million. Waters had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 21.43%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 11.79 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.