Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Boosts Stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its holdings in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 0.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 10,868 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Waters were worth $3,912,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in Waters in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waters during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Waters in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Waters by 190.2% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 119 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its position in Waters by 19,900.0% in the second quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 200 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waters Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE WAT opened at $344.80 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $351.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $331.13. The company has a market capitalization of $20.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.56 and a beta of 0.97. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $258.89 and a 1 year high of $393.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.38.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $740.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $712.99 million. Waters had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 21.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.84 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WAT. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on Waters from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $355.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $365.85.

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.