Brighton Jones LLC Grows Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 112.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,269 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 673 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $471,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAT. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Waters in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Waters by 235.7% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Waters in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in shares of Waters by 63.2% during the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 186 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waters during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $72,000. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WAT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Cfra set a $389.00 price target on Waters in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $355.00 to $415.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $384.71.

Waters Price Performance

NYSE WAT opened at $410.95 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.21, a PEG ratio of 7.17 and a beta of 1.01. Waters Co. has a 1-year low of $279.24 and a 1-year high of $416.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $381.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $354.99.

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