abrdn plc Has $94.74 Million Stock Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

abrdn plc lifted its stake in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 3.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 263,563 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,611 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc owned about 0.44% of Waters worth $94,738,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WAT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Waters by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,879,316 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,368,067,000 after acquiring an additional 41,654 shares during the period. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 11,851 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Waters by 8.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 51,853 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Waters by 21.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 448,304 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $130,053,000 after purchasing an additional 77,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 18,274 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waters Price Performance

WAT opened at $324.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $19.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.34, a PEG ratio of 6.38 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 2.10. Waters Co. has a fifty-two week low of $234.04 and a fifty-two week high of $367.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $341.63 and a 200 day moving average of $324.73.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on WAT shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Waters from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Waters from $330.00 to $310.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. Finally, Cfra set a $389.00 price target on Waters in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.