Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Purchased by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 35.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,709 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,485 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Waters were worth $2,055,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Waters by 96.8% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 868 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 427 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in shares of Waters by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 26,234 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $7,611,000 after purchasing an additional 2,086 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 21.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 448,304 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $130,053,000 after purchasing an additional 77,951 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in Waters during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,944,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in Waters by 71.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 140,992 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $50,742,000 after buying an additional 58,983 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WAT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Waters from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $375.85.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WAT opened at $378.26 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $366.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $336.11. The company has a market capitalization of $22.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.09, a PEG ratio of 6.92 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Waters Co. has a twelve month low of $279.24 and a twelve month high of $397.02.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $712.99 million. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.84 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Waters

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.