FourThought Financial Partners LLC Takes Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

FourThought Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 626 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WAT. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Waters during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in Waters during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 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. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Waters in the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays upgraded Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $360.00 to $415.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $390.40.

Waters Stock Up 1.2 %

WAT opened at $385.54 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.00, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $389.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $366.95. Waters Co. has a twelve month low of $279.24 and a twelve month high of $423.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a return on equity of 46.31% and a net margin of 21.56%. Equities research analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 12.86 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.