Eads & Heald Wealth Management Has $446,000 Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Eads & Heald Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 31.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,240 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Eads & Heald Wealth Management’s holdings in Waters were worth $446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WAT. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Waters by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,621 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,246,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Waters by 12.4% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 22,134 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $7,619,000 after acquiring an additional 2,448 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Waters by 29.6% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 86,834 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $29,891,000 after acquiring an additional 19,810 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Waters by 25.4% in the 1st quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,772 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $610,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Waters in the 1st quarter valued at about $72,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $310.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Leerink Partners upgraded Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays increased their target price on Waters from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waters has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $342.58.

Waters Trading Up 19.8 %

WAT opened at $387.21 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $22.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.57, a PEG ratio of 6.35 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company’s 50 day moving average is $342.04 and its 200-day moving average is $325.20. Waters Co. has a 1-year low of $241.40 and a 1-year high of $389.35.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $700.09 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 11.6 earnings per share 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.