Eagle Bay Advisors LLC Takes $72,000 Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 194 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $72,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Waters in the second quarter worth $33,000. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in Waters during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waters in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of Waters by 235.7% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waters during the second quarter worth about $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on WAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $355.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Scotiabank began coverage on Waters in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $430.00 price target for the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Waters from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Cfra set a $389.00 price target on shares of Waters in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $384.71.

Waters Stock Up 4.8 %

NYSE WAT opened at $398.71 on Tuesday. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $279.24 and a 1 year high of $401.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.67 billion, a PE ratio of 38.04, a PEG ratio of 6.92 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The business’s 50-day moving average is $377.07 and its 200 day moving average is $347.34.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued 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 company had revenue of $740.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $712.99 million. Waters had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 21.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.84 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current 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.