Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Acquired by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,545 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 451 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Waters were worth $2,813,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waters by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,689,208 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,076,263,000 after acquiring an additional 30,274 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Waters by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,520,629 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $965,392,000 after purchasing an additional 48,740 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Waters by 37.2% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,018,487 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $538,008,000 after purchasing an additional 547,777 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Waters by 79.6% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,504,592 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $467,011,000 after purchasing an additional 666,851 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Waters by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,229,235 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $379,738,000 after purchasing an additional 32,360 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.54, for a total value of $177,770.00. Following the completion of 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of WAT opened at $296.10 on Monday. Waters Co. has a 1-year low of $231.90 and a 1-year high of $363.80. The stock has a market cap of $17.56 billion, a PE ratio of 27.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.89 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. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $335.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $306.11.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.62 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $819.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $815.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WAT. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Waters from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $298.67.

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.