Raiffeisen Bank International AG Takes Position in Waters Corporation $WAT

Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new stake in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,690 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $592,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Waters by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,272,252 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,680,334,000 after acquiring an additional 173,584 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Waters by 15.7% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,070,671 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,131,757,000 after purchasing an additional 416,669 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Waters by 2.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,552,399 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $539,606,000 after purchasing an additional 42,202 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Waters by 14.0% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,112,128 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $409,897,000 after purchasing an additional 136,396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Waters by 2.1% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 739,630 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $272,605,000 after purchasing an additional 15,563 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on WAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $315.00 price target on shares of Waters and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Redburn Partners set a $390.00 price target on shares of Waters in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Rothschild Redb raised Waters to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $385.00 target price on Waters and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Waters from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $381.57.

Waters Stock Performance

NYSE WAT opened at $376.60 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $22.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.96, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Waters Corporation has a 1-year low of $275.05 and a 1-year high of $423.56. The company has a 50 day moving average of $336.45 and a 200-day moving average of $328.23.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 19th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.29 EPS for the quarter. Waters had a return on equity of 38.60% and a net margin of 21.71%.The business had revenue of $608.55 million for the quarter. On average, equities analysts forecast that Waters Corporation will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.