Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Bought by Vontobel Holding Ltd.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,782 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Waters were worth $1,001,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Waters by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,879,316 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,368,067,000 after buying an additional 41,654 shares during the last quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 1.1% in the first quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 1,110,898 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $382,404,000 after acquiring an additional 11,851 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Waters by 8.6% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 652,892 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $189,417,000 after acquiring an additional 51,853 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Waters by 21.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 448,304 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $130,053,000 after purchasing an additional 77,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Waters by 4.3% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 443,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $152,664,000 after purchasing an additional 18,274 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Cfra set a $389.00 target price on Waters in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Waters from $330.00 to $310.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Waters from $325.00 to $363.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Leerink Partners raised shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Waters to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $342.58.

Waters Stock Up 0.3 %

WAT stock opened at $348.45 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 1.42. Waters Co. has a 12 month low of $231.90 and a 12 month high of $367.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.68 billion, a PE ratio of 34.71, a P/E/G ratio of 6.85 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $342.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $325.07.

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