Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Acquired by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 48.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,316 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 427 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $488,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAT. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 96.8% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 868 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 427 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in Waters by 8.6% in the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 26,234 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $7,611,000 after acquiring an additional 2,086 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Waters by 21.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 448,304 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $130,053,000 after acquiring an additional 77,951 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Waters during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,944,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Waters by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 159,995 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $57,579,000 after purchasing an additional 41,339 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WAT shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Waters from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on Waters in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $430.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $379.71.

Waters Stock Performance

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

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