Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Acquired by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) by 48.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,726 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after purchasing an additional 13,290 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.07% of Waters worth $15,010,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Waters by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,098,668 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $2,633,464,000 after purchasing an additional 19,456 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Waters by 106,144.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 3,087,461 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,145,386,000 after purchasing an additional 3,084,555 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Waters by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,654,002 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $984,582,000 after purchasing an additional 212,364 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Waters by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,451,445 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $537,053,000 after purchasing an additional 34,762 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Waters by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 889,306 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $329,911,000 after acquiring an additional 3,713 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WAT. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Waters from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $460.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Waters from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $400.00 price target on shares of Waters and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $360.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Waters from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waters has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $390.19.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WAT traded down $7.69 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $341.88. The stock had a trading volume of 347,169 shares, compared to its average volume of 474,462. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $342.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $367.88. Waters Co. has a 1-year low of $279.24 and a 1-year high of $423.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.92, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last announced 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 company had revenue of $661.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $655.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.21 earnings per share. Waters's revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waters 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.