Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) Shares Purchased by Exchange Traded Concepts LLC

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 10.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 512 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $189,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 1.0% during the first quarter. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA now owns 3,155 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,163,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Waters by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 537 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $199,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in Waters by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 744 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Claret Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp now owns 1,103 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $409,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC lifted its position in Waters by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 1,734 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $643,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $400.00 target price on shares of Waters and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. KeyCorp raised shares of Waters from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $460.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Waters from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Baird R W raised Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $360.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $390.19.

Waters Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE WAT opened at $342.95 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $344.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $365.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.81. The stock has a market cap of $20.41 billion, a PE ratio of 31.12, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.11. Waters Corporation has a twelve month low of $279.24 and a twelve month high of $423.56.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.03. Waters had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 41.70%. The company had revenue of $661.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $655.50 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.21 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Waters Corporation will post 12.86 EPS for the current year.

Waters Company 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.