First Trust Advisors LP Boosts Stock Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Posted by on Mar 10th, 2023

First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT – Get Rating) by 865.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 63,257 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 56,703 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.11% of Waters worth $17,049,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hikari Tsushin Inc. grew its position in shares of Waters by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hikari Tsushin Inc. now owns 6,265 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,689,000 after buying an additional 1,265 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of Waters by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 9,999 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,695,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Waters by 44.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 27,280 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $7,353,000 after buying an additional 8,339 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Waters by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,329 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TIAA FSB purchased a new position in shares of Waters in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $317,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mark P. Vergnano purchased 3,185 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $313.32 per share, with a total value of $997,924.20. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,557 shares in the company, valued at $1,114,479.24. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waters Price Performance

NYSE:WAT opened at $309.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.02, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market cap of $18.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $331.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $317.13. Waters Co. has a 1-year low of $265.61 and a 1-year high of $369.00.

Waters (NYSE:WAT – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 15th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.74 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $858.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $832.85 million. Waters had a net margin of 23.81% and a return on equity of 175.08%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.67 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 12.67 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WAT. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Waters from $334.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Waters from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. SVB Leerink lifted their target price on shares of Waters from $320.00 to $352.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 6th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Waters from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Waters in a research note on Tuesday, December 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $350.00 price objective for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $354.00.

Waters Company Profile

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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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Waters (NYSE:WAT)

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