DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Buys 19,590 Shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) by 34.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 76,166 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after purchasing an additional 19,590 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned about 0.13% of Waters worth $27,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 5,498 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $2,026,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in Waters by 60.0% in the first quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 10,924 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $4,026,000 after purchasing an additional 4,095 shares during the last quarter. Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Waters in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of Waters by 3.4% during the first quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 9,935 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $3,662,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Waters by 6.9% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 12,054 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $4,338,000 after acquiring an additional 773 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WAT. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Waters from $355.00 to $374.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $400.00 price target on Waters and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Baird R W upgraded Waters from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Barclays reduced their target price on Waters from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Waters from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $460.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $388.94.

Waters Price Performance

WAT traded up $1.37 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $354.65. 338,365 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 472,027. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.10 billion, a PE ratio of 32.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.10. The business's 50-day moving average price is $349.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $363.80. Waters Corporation has a 1-year low of $292.06 and a 1-year high of $423.56.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $661.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $655.50 million. Waters had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 41.70%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.21 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Waters Corporation will post 12.86 EPS for the current fiscal 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.