Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC Grows Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 10.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,922 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 183 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $713,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Waters by 34.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 159,995 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $57,579,000 after acquiring an additional 41,339 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in Waters by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $632,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Waters by 71.9% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 140,992 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $50,742,000 after acquiring an additional 58,983 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,578 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $928,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its position in Waters by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 12,874 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,776,000 after purchasing an additional 782 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of WAT opened at $369.71 on Monday. Waters Co. has a 12-month low of $279.24 and a 12-month high of $423.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.28, a P/E/G ratio of 7.37 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $389.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $364.75.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. As a group, research analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays upgraded Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $360.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $390.40.

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.