Capital Investment Counsel LLC Increases Stock Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Capital Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,088 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $5,430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Waters during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Waters during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 190.2% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 119 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waters during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. lifted its position in Waters by 19,900.0% during the second quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 200 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Leerink Partners raised shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Waters to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Waters from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waters has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $365.85.

Waters Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Waters stock opened at $373.47 on Friday. Waters Co. has a fifty-two week low of $273.60 and a fifty-two week high of $393.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 2.02. The company has a market capitalization of $22.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.64, a P/E/G ratio of 6.83 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a fifty day moving average of $354.04 and a 200 day moving average of $331.99.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.25. Waters had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 21.43%. The company had revenue of $740.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $712.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.