B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Invests $1.63 Million in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,532 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,631,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. increased its position in shares of Waters by 0.4% in the second quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 7,841 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,275,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Waters by 3.2% in the second quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,084 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Waters by 3.0% in the second quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,170 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in shares of Waters by 0.3% in the second quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 13,087 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,797,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WAT has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $325.00 to $375.00 in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $365.85.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of Waters stock opened at $373.47 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $354.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $331.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.64, a PEG ratio of 6.31 and a beta of 0.97. Waters Co. has a 1-year low of $273.60 and a 1-year high of $393.38.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. Waters had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 21.43%. The company had revenue of $740.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $712.99 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current 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.