Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Acquired by Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT – Get Rating) by 424.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,411 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,951 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Waters were worth $650,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 79.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,504,592 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $467,011,000 after purchasing an additional 666,851 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,623,726 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $707,174,000 after acquiring an additional 171,541 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 18.6% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 719,183 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $193,841,000 after acquiring an additional 112,698 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Waters by 568.6% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 104,300 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $32,374,000 after buying an additional 88,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tikehau Investment Management purchased a new stake in Waters in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $18,313,000. 88.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of WAT stock opened at $310.89 on Wednesday. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $265.61 and a 1 year high of $369.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $335.20 and its 200-day moving average is $317.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.46, a PEG ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.88.

Waters (NYSE:WAT – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 15th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.74 by $0.10. Waters had a net margin of 23.81% and a return on equity of 175.08%. The firm had revenue of $858.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $832.85 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.67 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 12.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WAT has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays increased their target price on Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Waters in a research report on Tuesday, December 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $350.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Waters from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 16th. TheStreet raised Waters from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Waters from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $354.00.

About Waters

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Waters Corp. engages in the provision of workflow solutions involving liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, and thermal analysis. It operates through the Waters and TA (TA Instruments) segments. The Waters segment consists of liquid chromatography instruments, mass spectrometry, and precision chemistry consumable products and services.