New York Life Investment Management LLC Buys 108 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,910 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $3,305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Waters by 1.9% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Waters by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,416,683 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $508,123,000 after purchasing an additional 16,703 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Waters by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 885,593 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $318,717,000 after purchasing an additional 6,256 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Waters by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 728,534 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $270,272,000 after purchasing an additional 72,515 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its holdings in Waters by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 714,155 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $264,937,000 after purchasing an additional 68,509 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on WAT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays raised Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $360.00 to $415.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $390.40.

Waters Stock Performance

NYSE:WAT opened at $377.22 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $390.04 and its 200 day moving average is $367.50. Waters Co. has a fifty-two week low of $279.24 and a fifty-two week high of $423.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.40 billion, a PE ratio of 35.22, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a return on equity of 46.31% and a net margin of 21.56%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current 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.