Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Purchased by Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 63.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 186 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.’s holdings in Waters were worth $67,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 70.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 656,019 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $236,095,000 after purchasing an additional 271,804 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in shares of Waters by 34.4% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 393,890 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $141,757,000 after purchasing an additional 100,811 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Waters by 21.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 448,304 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $130,053,000 after buying an additional 77,951 shares in the last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Waters by 3,627.0% during the 3rd quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 68,987 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $24,828,000 after buying an additional 67,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Waters by 71.9% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 140,992 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $50,742,000 after buying an additional 58,983 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on WAT. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Cfra set a $389.00 price target on Waters in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waters presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $365.85.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WAT opened at $387.00 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $360.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $333.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.98 billion, a PE ratio of 36.93, a P/E/G ratio of 7.08 and a beta of 1.01. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $279.24 and a 12 month high of $395.44.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.25. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The firm had revenue of $740.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $712.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.84 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast 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.