Westpac Banking Corp Raises Stock Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Westpac Banking Corp grew its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 65.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Waters were worth $371,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in Waters by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,587 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,331,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Waters by 34.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 159,995 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $57,579,000 after acquiring an additional 41,339 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Waters by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $632,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in Waters by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,578 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $928,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in Waters by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 421,691 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $156,439,000 after purchasing an additional 27,801 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays raised shares of Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $360.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. KeyCorp raised Waters from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $460.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $401.31.

Waters Stock Down 6.0 %

WAT stock opened at $324.57 on Friday. Waters Co. has a 12 month low of $279.24 and a 12 month high of $423.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $19.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $381.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $373.15.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 21.56% and a return on equity of 46.31%. Sell-side analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 12.86 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.