559 Shares in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Purchased by IMPACTfolio LLC

IMPACTfolio LLC bought a new stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 559 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Waters by 70.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 656,019 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $236,095,000 after purchasing an additional 271,804 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in Waters by 34.4% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 393,890 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $141,757,000 after buying an additional 100,811 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Waters by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 305,661 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $110,005,000 after acquiring an additional 82,865 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 21.0% in the second 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 period. Finally, Applied Finance Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Waters by 3,627.0% in the 3rd quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 68,987 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $24,828,000 after acquiring an additional 67,136 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Waters from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $355.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Waters from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $379.71.

Waters Trading Down 0.5 %

Waters stock traded down $1.86 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $369.12. The company had a trading volume of 210,168 shares, compared to its average volume of 441,656. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.38. Waters Co. has a 12-month low of $279.24 and a 12-month high of $397.02. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $371.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $342.07. The firm has a market cap of $21.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.22, a P/E/G ratio of 6.92 and a beta of 1.01.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $740.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.84 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current 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.