700 Shares in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Purchased by Avestar Capital LLC

Avestar Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 700 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Waters by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,577,733 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $927,700,000 after acquiring an additional 49,194 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,416,683 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $508,123,000 after buying an additional 16,703 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Waters by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 885,593 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $318,717,000 after buying an additional 6,256 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Waters by 1.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 659,539 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $219,811,000 after acquiring an additional 6,647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Waters by 70.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 656,019 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $236,095,000 after acquiring an additional 271,804 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays raised Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $360.00 to $415.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $390.40.

Waters Price Performance

WAT stock opened at $369.71 on Friday. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $279.24 and a 1 year high of $423.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.28, a P/E/G ratio of 7.37 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The business’s 50-day moving average is $389.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $364.55.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. Analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.