Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Increases Stock Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 10.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 92,204 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,087 shares during the period. Waters accounts for 0.9% of Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Waters were worth $34,206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisory Alpha LLC grew its position in Waters by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 1,065 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $395,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 2.4% during the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,198 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 966 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 9,610 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,565,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 3.8% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 851 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Scotiabank upgraded Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $360.00 to $415.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Waters has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $391.07.

Waters Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE WAT opened at $371.61 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.70, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $391.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $370.98. Waters Co. has a 52-week low of $279.24 and a 52-week high of $423.56. 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 (NYSE:WAT) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 46.31% and a net margin of 21.56%. On average, analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waters Company 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.