Natural Investments LLC Purchases New Shares in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Natural Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 1,338 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $496,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisory Alpha LLC lifted its position in Waters by 2.6% during the 4th 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 grew its stake in shares of Waters by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,198 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Waters by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 966 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Waters by 0.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Waters by 3.8% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 851 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WAT shares. Scotiabank raised Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays upgraded shares of Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $360.00 to $415.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waters has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $391.07.

Waters Stock Performance

Waters stock opened at $378.04 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company’s 50-day moving average is $391.16 and its 200 day moving average is $369.78. Waters Co. has a 1-year low of $279.24 and a 1-year high of $423.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS for the current year.

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.