Versant Capital Management Inc Acquires 174 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 669.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 200 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 174 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Waters were worth $74,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IMPACTfolio LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waters during the fourth quarter valued at about $207,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Waters by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 305,661 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $110,005,000 after acquiring an additional 82,865 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 70.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 656,019 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $236,095,000 after acquiring an additional 271,804 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Waters by 74.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 70,507 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $25,189,000 after acquiring an additional 30,101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 3,998 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,439,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WAT shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $355.00 to $415.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI increased their price target 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 boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Waters from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $379.71.

Waters Price Performance

NYSE WAT opened at $371.76 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 2.02. The company has a market capitalization of $22.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.47, a PEG ratio of 6.92 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $372.91 and a 200 day moving average of $343.47. Waters Co. has a one year low of $279.24 and a one year high of $397.02.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $740.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $712.99 million. Waters had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 21.43%. The company’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.84 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 11.79 EPS 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.