Eads & Heald Wealth Management Acquires 296 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Eads & Heald Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 31.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,240 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management’s holdings in Waters were worth $446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,879,316 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,368,067,000 after purchasing an additional 41,654 shares during the period. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd grew its position in shares of Waters by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 1,110,898 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $382,404,000 after buying an additional 11,851 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Waters by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 652,892 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $189,417,000 after buying an additional 51,853 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake 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 valued at $130,053,000 after buying an additional 77,951 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Waters by 4.3% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 443,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $152,664,000 after acquiring an additional 18,274 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on WAT. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $355.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $310.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Waters from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $342.58.

Waters Stock Up 19.8 %

WAT stock opened at $387.21 on Friday. Waters Co. has a fifty-two week low of $241.40 and a fifty-two week high of $389.35. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $342.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $325.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 2.10. The company has a market cap of $22.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.35 and a beta of 0.97.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $709.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $700.09 million. Waters had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 56.81%. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.80 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 11.6 earnings per share 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.