Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 896 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,029 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 896 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Waters were worth $11,203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Waters during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waters by 11,000.0% during the 2nd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 111 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in Waters by 55.3% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 118 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Waters during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Waters during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of the 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 directly owns 2,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $799,965. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Waters from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Waters from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $298.67.

Waters Stock Up 0.6 %

WAT stock opened at $295.98 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $335.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $305.56. The company has a market capitalization of $17.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.85 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.57. 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 results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.56 by $0.06. Waters had a net margin of 21.72% and a return on equity of 81.30%. The firm had revenue of $819.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $815.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.84 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 11.89 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.