Natural Investments LLC Buys Shares of 1,338 Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Natural Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,338 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $496,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Waters by 106,144.4% in the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 3,087,461 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,145,386,000 after buying an additional 3,084,555 shares during the last quarter. Eos Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Waters by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. Eos Management L.P. now owns 10,790 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,003,000 after buying an additional 2,589 shares during the period. S&CO Inc. boosted its position in Waters by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. S&CO Inc. now owns 13,276 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,925,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Waters by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 12,303 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,564,000 after acquiring an additional 1,606 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Waters by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 31,649 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $11,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waters Stock Performance

Waters stock opened at $378.04 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $391.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $369.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Waters Co. has a twelve month low of $279.24 and a twelve month high of $423.56. The company has a market capitalization of $22.46 billion, a PE ratio of 35.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued 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%. Research analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on WAT shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank upgraded Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $360.00 to $415.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waters currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $391.07.

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.