Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 73 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,155 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 73 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Waters were worth $8,219,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WAT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waters by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,098,668 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,633,464,000 after purchasing an additional 19,456 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Waters by 106,144.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 3,087,461 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,145,386,000 after buying an additional 3,084,555 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Waters by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,577,733 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $927,700,000 after buying an additional 49,194 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Waters by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,416,683 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $508,123,000 after buying an additional 16,703 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Waters by 0.7% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 885,593 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $318,717,000 after acquiring an additional 6,256 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WAT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America decreased their price target on Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. KeyCorp raised shares of Waters from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $460.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Scotiabank raised Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $401.31.

Waters Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of Waters stock opened at $368.53 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $21.89 billion, a PE ratio of 34.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $386.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $373.25. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $279.24 and a 52-week high of $423.56.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 21.56% and a return on equity of 46.31%. On average, analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 12.86 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.