Captrust Financial Advisors Raises Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,747 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Waters were worth $989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 2.4% in the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,198 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Waters by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 851 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 1,340 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $482,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. grew its position in shares of Waters by 0.4% in the second quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 7,841 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,275,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 3.2% in the second quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,084 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on WAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $355.00 to $415.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $365.85.

Waters Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE WAT opened at $392.01 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.28 billion, a PE ratio of 37.41, a PEG ratio of 7.03 and a beta of 1.01. Waters Co. has a twelve month low of $279.24 and a twelve month high of $395.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $363.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $334.73.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. Waters had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 21.43%. The company had revenue of $740.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $712.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.84 EPS. Waters’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current 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.