Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Stock Holdings Increased by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,077 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 1,776 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $4,851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WAT. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Waters by 3.8% in the third 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 during the period. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 176,100 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $63,377,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 3,916 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its position in shares of Waters by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 10,868 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,912,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in Waters during the third quarter worth about $1,631,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WAT opened at $371.61 on Thursday. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $279.24 and a 1 year high of $423.56. The firm has a market cap of $22.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.70, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $391.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $370.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a return on equity of 46.31% and a net margin of 21.56%. Research analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank upgraded Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group increased their target price on Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays upgraded Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $360.00 to $415.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $391.07.

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.