Allstate Corp Acquires New Shares in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Allstate Corp bought a new position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,792 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $665,000.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on WAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $401.31.

Waters Price Performance

WAT stock opened at $368.53 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.89 billion, a PE ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $386.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $373.25. Waters Co. has a one year low of $279.24 and a one year high of $423.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.