Benjamin Edwards Inc. Has $276,000 Stock Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 744 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 34 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Waters were worth $276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Waters by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 159,995 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $57,579,000 after purchasing an additional 41,339 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Waters by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,774 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,358,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC bought a new position in shares of Waters in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 12,874 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,776,000 after acquiring an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Waters in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $72,000. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America reduced their target price on Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Baird R W raised Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $400.00 target price on Waters and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Waters from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Waters from $355.00 to $374.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $390.19.

Waters Price Performance

Waters stock opened at $343.73 on Monday. Waters Co. has a one year low of $279.24 and a one year high of $423.56. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $349.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $370.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.65. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.03. Waters had a return on equity of 46.31% and a net margin of 21.56%. The firm had revenue of $661.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $655.50 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS for the current 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.