Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Acquired by Nuveen Asset Management LLC

Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) by 27.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 211,747 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after acquiring an additional 46,227 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned 0.36% of Waters worth $78,554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Waters Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE WAT traded up $1.97 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $349.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 269,870 shares, compared to its average volume of 479,747. The business's 50 day moving average is $345.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $371.10. Waters Co. has a 12-month low of $279.24 and a 12-month high of $423.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $20.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.14.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on WAT. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Waters from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $360.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Waters from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Waters from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $390.19.

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.