Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. Buys 875 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,043 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the period. Waters accounts for about 0.4% of Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.’s holdings in Waters were worth $4,468,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Waters by 1.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,577,733 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $927,700,000 after purchasing an additional 49,194 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 1.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,416,683 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $508,123,000 after buying an additional 16,703 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Waters by 0.7% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 885,593 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $318,717,000 after acquiring an additional 6,256 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Waters by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 659,539 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $219,811,000 after acquiring an additional 6,647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Waters by 70.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 656,019 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $236,095,000 after acquiring an additional 271,804 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WAT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $355.00 to $415.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Cfra set a $389.00 price target on Waters in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Waters from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $384.71.

Waters Price Performance

WAT opened at $398.71 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $23.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.04, a PEG ratio of 6.92 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $377.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $347.34. Waters Co. has a 12-month low of $279.24 and a 12-month high of $401.00.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $740.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $712.99 million. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The company’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.84 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 11.79 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.