Raymond James & Associates Buys 95,577 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 295.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 127,879 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 95,577 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned 0.22% of Waters worth $42,102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Waters by 79.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,504,592 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $467,011,000 after purchasing an additional 666,851 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Waters in the 4th quarter valued at about $215,981,000. London Co. of Virginia acquired a new stake in Waters in the 3rd quarter valued at about $158,723,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Waters by 129.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 973,537 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $322,017,000 after purchasing an additional 550,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Waters by 37.2% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,018,487 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $538,008,000 after purchasing an additional 547,777 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WAT shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Waters in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 11th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Waters from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waters has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $293.50.

Insider Activity at Waters

In other Waters news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.54, for a total transaction of $177,770.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $799,965. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waters Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of WAT opened at $344.23 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $333.51 and its 200-day moving average is $299.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.38 billion, a PE ratio of 31.73, a P/E/G ratio of 6.73 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. Waters Co. has a 12 month low of $231.90 and a 12 month high of $363.80.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.56 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $819.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $815.50 million. Waters had a net margin of 21.72% and a return on equity of 81.30%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.84 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 11.89 EPS 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.