Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Bought by Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.

Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,043 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the quarter. Waters accounts for approximately 0.4% of Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.’s holdings in Waters were worth $4,468,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Waters in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in Waters during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waters in the third quarter worth $35,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 235.7% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waters during the second quarter valued at $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Scotiabank began coverage on Waters in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $430.00 price objective for the company. Cfra set a $389.00 price target on shares of Waters in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $384.71.

Waters Trading Up 4.8 %

Shares of Waters stock opened at $398.71 on Tuesday. Waters Co. has a fifty-two week low of $279.24 and a fifty-two week high of $401.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 2.02. The company has a market cap of $23.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.92 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $377.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $347.34.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $740.30 million during 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%. Waters’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.84 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.