Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Bought by Raymond James Trust N.A.

Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,340 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 32 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Waters were worth $482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Waters by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 80,313 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $27,647,000 after buying an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 29.4% during the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,712 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $589,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in Waters by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 94,092 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $32,389,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in Waters by 61.6% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 6,584 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Waters in the 1st quarter valued at about $10,106,000. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waters Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of Waters stock opened at $388.15 on Wednesday. Waters Co. has a twelve month low of $273.60 and a twelve month high of $393.38. The stock has a market cap of $23.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.83 and a beta of 0.97. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $355.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $332.34.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Cfra set a $389.00 price objective on Waters in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $365.85.

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.