Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Acquired by Eads & Heald Wealth Management

Eads & Heald Wealth Management boosted its stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,286 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management’s holdings in Waters were worth $477,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAT. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in Waters during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waters during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its stake in Waters by 235.7% in the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in Waters in the 2nd quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in Waters by 63.2% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 186 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $384.71.

Waters Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of Waters stock opened at $413.63 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $379.44 and a 200 day moving average of $352.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 2.02. The firm 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. Waters Co. has a fifty-two week low of $279.24 and a fifty-two week high of $416.24.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $740.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $712.99 million. Waters had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 21.43%. The company’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.84 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current 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.