National Bank of Canada FI Grows Stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 16.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,234 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 3,987 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Waters were worth $10,474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in Waters during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Waters by 235.7% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Waters by 129.3% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Waters during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Waters by 54.3% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 125 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on WAT shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” 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 upped their target price for the company from $396.00 to $407.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Baird R W raised shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waters currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $401.31.

Waters Stock Performance

Waters stock opened at $324.57 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $279.24 and a 12 month high of $423.56. The company has a market cap of $19.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $381.53 and its 200-day moving average is $373.46.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 21.56% and a return on equity of 46.31%. Equities analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 12.86 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.