Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC Buys Shares of 6,949 Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 6,949 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $2,578,000. Waters makes up approximately 2.5% of Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Waters in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of Waters by 235.7% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waters during the third quarter worth $35,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Waters in the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 63.2% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 186 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on WAT shares. TD Cowen increased their target price on Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $390.40.

Waters Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE WAT opened at $379.45 on Friday. Waters Co. has a one year low of $279.24 and a one year high of $423.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $390.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $363.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.21, a P/E/G ratio of 7.37 and a beta of 1.01.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. Research analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current 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.