Park Avenue Securities LLC Acquires 419 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 19.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,531 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $939,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WAT. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new position in Waters in the 2nd quarter worth $59,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Waters by 21.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 448,304 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $130,053,000 after acquiring an additional 77,951 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in Waters by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 4,104 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,191,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Waters by 228.0% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,393 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,305,000 after acquiring an additional 7,920 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Waters by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,242 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,521,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on WAT. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Waters from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Waters in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $430.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $384.71.

Waters Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:WAT opened at $403.85 on Tuesday. Waters Co. has a 52 week low of $279.24 and a 52 week high of $411.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 2.02. The company has a market capitalization of $23.98 billion, a PE ratio of 38.54, a PEG ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $378.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $351.45.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $740.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $712.99 million. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.84 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Waters Company 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.