Swiss National Bank Buys 700 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 0.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 176,100 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.30% of Waters worth $63,377,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Waters by 3.8% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 851 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 7,841 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,275,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Waters by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,084 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its stake in Waters by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,170 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its holdings in Waters by 0.3% during the second quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 13,087 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,797,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $355.00 to $415.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Waters from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $365.85.

Waters Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of WAT stock opened at $344.80 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $20.47 billion, a PE ratio of 32.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.56 and a beta of 0.97. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $258.89 and a 1 year high of $393.38. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $351.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $331.13. 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 (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. Waters had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 21.43%. The company had revenue of $740.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $712.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.84 EPS. Waters’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict 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.