Securian Asset Management Inc. Buys 47 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Posted by on Apr 24th, 2023

Securian Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT – Get Rating) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,088 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Waters were worth $1,743,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 192.3% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 76 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC bought a new position in Waters during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Asset Dedication LLC bought a new position in shares of Waters in the third quarter worth $26,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Waters by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 106 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Waters in the third quarter worth $31,000. 88.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on WAT shares. StockNews.com lowered Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 9th. Barclays dropped their price target on Waters from $385.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Waters from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 16th. SVB Leerink increased their target price on Waters from $320.00 to $352.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Waters from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waters currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $351.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mark P. Vergnano purchased 3,185 shares of Waters stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $313.32 per share, with a total value of $997,924.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,557 shares in the company, valued at $1,114,479.24. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waters Price Performance

WAT opened at $306.90 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.02, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a current ratio of 2.24. Waters Co. has a 52-week low of $265.61 and a 52-week high of $369.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.11 billion, a PE ratio of 26.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $310.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $319.65.

Waters (NYSE:WAT – Get Rating) last posted 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 firm 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 was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.67 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 12.67 EPS for the current year.

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Waters (NYSE:WAT)

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