Global Retirement Partners LLC Grows Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 11.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,479 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $549,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Waters by 70.7% during 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 during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in Waters by 34.4% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 393,890 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $141,757,000 after acquiring an additional 100,811 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Waters by 37.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 305,661 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $110,005,000 after acquiring an additional 82,865 shares during the last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Waters by 3,627.0% in the third quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 68,987 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $24,828,000 after acquiring an additional 67,136 shares during the period. Finally, Smith Group Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Waters in the fourth quarter worth about $22,188,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on WAT. UBS Group upped their price objective on Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $390.40.

Waters Stock Performance

WAT stock opened at $374.24 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Waters Co. has a 1-year low of $279.24 and a 1-year high of $423.56. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $388.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $366.15. The company has a market capitalization of $22.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.94, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.01.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS for the current fiscal 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.