Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Acquired by Huntington National Bank

Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,460 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Waters were worth $542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC grew its position in Waters by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 81,653 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $29,386,000 after acquiring an additional 934 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Waters during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $229,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in Waters by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,578 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $928,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in Waters by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,747 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $989,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waters in the third quarter worth $256,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp upgraded Waters from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. 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 report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $401.31.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of WAT opened at $324.57 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. Waters Co. has a fifty-two week low of $279.24 and a fifty-two week high of $423.56. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $381.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $373.15. 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 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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.