Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Bought by Raymond James & Associates

Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT – Get Rating) by 49.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,111 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,634 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Waters were worth $6,890,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of Waters by 192.3% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 76 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waters in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waters by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 106 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waters in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waters in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. 88.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waters news, Director Mark P. Vergnano acquired 3,185 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $313.32 per share, with a total value of $997,924.20. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,114,479.24. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WAT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Waters from $345.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 10th. Barclays cut their price target on Waters from $350.00 to $325.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 10th. Bank of America cut their price target on Waters from $350.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 10th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Waters from $345.00 to $288.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Waters from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $335.27.

Waters Stock Performance

NYSE WAT opened at $267.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38. Waters Co. has a 52-week low of $261.01 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $296.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $319.42. The firm has a market cap of $15.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.85.

Waters (NYSE:WAT – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 9th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.60 by ($0.11). Waters had a return on equity of 149.31% and a net margin of 23.22%. The company had revenue of $684.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $697.86 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 12.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Waters Company Profile

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Waters Corp. engages in the provision of workflow solutions involving liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, and thermal analysis. It operates through the Waters and TA (TA Instruments) segments. The Waters segment consists of liquid chromatography instruments, mass spectrometry, and precision chemistry consumable products and services.