Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Stake Raised by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,968 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Waters were worth $6,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WAT. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO bought a new stake in Waters in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in Waters in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Waters by 190.2% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 119 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its position in Waters by 19,900.0% in the second quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 200 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Waters in the first quarter worth about $72,000. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WAT has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Waters in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $320.00 price target on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Waters from $330.00 to $310.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Waters from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Waters in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $380.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $318.50.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of WAT opened at $325.86 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.98, a P/E/G ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.95. Waters Co. has a fifty-two week low of $231.90 and a fifty-two week high of $367.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The business’s 50-day moving average is $325.58 and its 200-day moving average is $324.77.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $709.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $700.09 million. Waters had a return on equity of 56.81% and a net margin of 20.71%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.80 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 11.6 EPS 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.