Tompkins Financial Corp Takes $148,000 Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 400 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $148,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Waters by 70.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 656,019 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $236,095,000 after purchasing an additional 271,804 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in Waters by 34.4% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 393,890 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $141,757,000 after acquiring an additional 100,811 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Waters by 37.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 305,661 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $110,005,000 after acquiring an additional 82,865 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 21.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 448,304 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $130,053,000 after purchasing an additional 77,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Applied Finance Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Waters by 3,627.0% during the third quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 68,987 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $24,828,000 after purchasing an additional 67,136 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waters Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE WAT opened at $405.69 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $24.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $378.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $348.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Waters Co. has a 52-week low of $279.24 and a 52-week high of $411.58.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. Waters had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 21.43%. The company had revenue of $740.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $712.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.84 EPS. Waters’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 11.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on WAT. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Cfra set a $389.00 target price on shares of Waters in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $384.71.

Waters Company 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.