Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Acquired by Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,387 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 45 shares during the quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in Waters in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in Waters during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in Waters by 235.7% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Waters by 129.3% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Waters during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on WAT shares. Scotiabank upgraded Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 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 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group upped their target price on Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $360.00 to $415.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Eleven investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $390.40.

Waters Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE WAT opened at $379.03 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $22.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.39, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $389.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $368.13. Waters Co. has a 52 week low of $279.24 and a 52 week high of $423.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.94.

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 return on equity of 46.31% and a net margin of 21.56%. On average, research analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.