Natixis Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 28.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 82,009 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 18,328 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.14% of Waters worth $23,792,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,354 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $446,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in shares of Waters by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 13,087 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,797,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Waters by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management now owns 681 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Waters by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. now owns 10,819 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,724,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust raised its position in shares of Waters by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 864 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WAT has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Waters in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $380.00 price target on the stock. Leerink Partners raised Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Waters from $319.00 to $312.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Waters in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $320.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Waters from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waters currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $318.50.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of WAT opened at $339.75 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.01 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 2.10. Waters Co. has a one year low of $231.90 and a one year high of $367.21. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $318.95 and its 200-day moving average is $324.70.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $709.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $700.09 million. Waters had a return on equity of 56.81% and a net margin of 20.71%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 11.6 EPS 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.