Versor Investments LP Takes $557,000 Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Versor Investments LP bought a new position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,502 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $557,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 159,995 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $57,579,000 after acquiring an additional 41,339 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in Waters by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $632,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in Waters by 71.9% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 140,992 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $50,742,000 after buying an additional 58,983 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Waters by 13.2% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,578 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $928,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 421,691 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $156,439,000 after buying an additional 27,801 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. TD Cowen raised their price target on Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $390.40.

Waters Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:WAT opened at $377.22 on Friday. Waters Co. has a one year low of $279.24 and a one year high of $423.56. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $390.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $367.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.22, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a return on equity of 46.31% and a net margin of 21.56%. As a group, analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS 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.