First Manhattan CO. LLC. Takes $362,000 Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. bought a new stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 975 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $362,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Waters in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Waters in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 129.3% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Waters in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 54.3% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 125 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WAT. Baird R W upgraded shares of Waters from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Waters from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Waters from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Waters from $355.00 to $374.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $390.19.

Waters Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of WAT opened at $343.73 on Monday. 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's 50-day moving average is $349.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $370.42. Waters Co. has a twelve month low of $279.24 and a twelve month high of $423.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.09, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.14.

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

Waters Company 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.

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