Greenleaf Trust Raises Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 8th, 2023

Waters logo Greenleaf Trust raised its stake in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT – Get Rating) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 983 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Waters were worth $337,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 0.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,764,086 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,823,123,000 after buying an additional 46,498 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 1.1% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,496,407 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,750,974,000 after buying an additional 73,839 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 7.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,623,726 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $707,174,000 after buying an additional 171,541 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 79.6% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,504,592 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $467,011,000 after buying an additional 666,851 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 0.4% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 840,359 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $260,839,000 after buying an additional 3,187 shares during the period. 88.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waters

In other Waters news, Director Mark P. Vergnano acquired 3,185 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $313.32 per share, for a total transaction of $997,924.20. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,114,479.24. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.77% of the company’s stock.

Waters Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE WAT opened at $300.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.68 billion, a PE ratio of 25.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $316.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $317.11. Waters Co. has a 12-month low of $265.61 and a 12-month high of $369.00.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Waters from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Waters from $385.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Waters in a research note on Tuesday, December 13th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $350.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Waters from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waters presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $351.00.

Waters 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.