Ballentine Partners LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 6.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,324 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $836,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Waters during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Waters by 190.2% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 119 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its stake in Waters by 19,900.0% during the second quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 200 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in Waters during the second quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Waters during the first quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WAT has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Waters to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Leerink Partners upgraded Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Waters from $325.00 to $363.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $355.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Waters has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $342.58.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WAT opened at $324.55 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $19.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.33, a PEG ratio of 6.67 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 2.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $342.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $324.89. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $234.04 and a 1 year high of $367.21.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $709.00 million for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.80 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 11.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Waters

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.