Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Stake Increased by Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.

Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. boosted its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) by 8.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,109 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the quarter. Waters makes up 0.5% of Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.'s holdings in Waters were worth $4,832,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WAT. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in Waters by 39.2% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,624 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,715,000 after purchasing an additional 1,301 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Waters by 112.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,269 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $471,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waters in the fourth quarter valued at $204,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waters by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 353 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waters by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $2,226,000 after acquiring an additional 734 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank upgraded Waters from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Waters from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $360.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waters has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $390.19.

Waters Trading Down 1.6%

NYSE WAT traded down $5.72 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $343.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 374,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 475,917. Waters Co. has a 52-week low of $279.24 and a 52-week high of $423.56. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $342.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $369.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.14.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.03. Waters had a net margin of 21.56% and a return on equity of 46.31%. The firm had revenue of $661.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $655.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.21 earnings per share. Waters's revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS for the current year.

About Waters

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.