Quent Capital LLC Acquires 67 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 41.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 229 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the quarter. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $85,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAT. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Waters by 70.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 656,019 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $236,095,000 after acquiring an additional 271,804 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 34.4% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 393,890 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $141,757,000 after buying an additional 100,811 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 305,661 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $110,005,000 after buying an additional 82,865 shares during the period. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 3,627.0% during the 3rd quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 68,987 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $24,828,000 after buying an additional 67,136 shares during the period. Finally, Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waters during the 4th quarter worth $22,188,000. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on WAT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Waters from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $388.64.

Waters Trading Down 5.6 %

Shares of WAT stock opened at $382.45 on Thursday. Waters Co. has a 52-week low of $279.24 and a 52-week high of $423.56. The stock has a market cap of $22.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.49, a P/E/G ratio of 7.37 and a beta of 1.01. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $390.16 and a 200-day moving average of $363.86.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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.