NEOS Investment Management LLC Acquires 603 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 37.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,203 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 603 shares during the quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $817,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WAT. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Waters by 17.8% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 5,349 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,925,000 after acquiring an additional 807 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Waters by 1.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 81,653 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $29,386,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waters in the third quarter valued at $229,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Waters by 3.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 477,144 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $171,719,000 after purchasing an additional 17,185 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. acquired a new stake in Waters during the third quarter worth $267,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Waters from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $396.00 to $407.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.40.

Waters Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:WAT opened at $361.61 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $387.41 and a 200-day moving average of $372.92. Waters Co. has a one year low of $279.24 and a one year high of $423.56. The stock has a market cap of $21.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 EPS 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 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.