Waters Corporation $WAT Shares Acquired by Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 1,750.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 222 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Waters were worth $77,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,272,252 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,680,334,000 after purchasing an additional 173,584 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,070,671 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,131,757,000 after purchasing an additional 416,669 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,066,482 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $761,643,000 after purchasing an additional 123,215 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,112,128 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $409,897,000 after purchasing an additional 136,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 2.1% during the 1st 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 last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WAT has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Waters from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waters in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $385.00 price target on shares of Waters and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $390.00 price target on shares of Waters in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $376.80.

Waters Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE WAT opened at $358.79 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $21.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.35, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Waters Corporation has a 52-week low of $275.05 and a 52-week high of $423.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $311.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $323.92.

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