Investment Advisory Group LLC Has $644,000 Stock Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Investment Advisory Group LLC cut its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,735 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 155 shares during the period. Investment Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $644,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 96.8% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 868 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 427 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in Waters by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 26,234 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $7,611,000 after purchasing an additional 2,086 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Waters by 34.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 159,995 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $57,579,000 after purchasing an additional 41,339 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in Waters during the second quarter worth approximately $2,944,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in Waters by 71.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 140,992 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $50,742,000 after buying an additional 58,983 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WAT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Waters from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $355.00 to $415.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Waters from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $384.71.

Waters Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of Waters stock opened at $413.63 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $379.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $352.34. The company has a market capitalization of $24.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.47, a PEG ratio of 7.07 and a beta of 1.01. 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 12-month low of $279.24 and a 12-month high of $416.24.

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