Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC boosted its position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,113 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,464 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC owned about 0.06% of Waters worth $12,655,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Advisory Alpha LLC increased its position in Waters by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 1,065 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Waters by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,198 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 966 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 9,610 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,565,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Waters by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 353 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group upped their target price on Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank raised Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $360.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Waters currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $391.07.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WAT opened at $368.21 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $21.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.38, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. Waters Co. has a one year low of $279.24 and a one year high of $423.56. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $389.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $372.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its earnings results 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 21.56% and a return on equity of 46.31%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.