Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires 1,606 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 15.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,303 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 1,606 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Waters were worth $4,564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WAT. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in shares of Waters during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Waters in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in Waters by 235.7% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Waters by 129.3% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Waters in the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waters Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of WAT opened at $372.92 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $391.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $369.80. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $279.24 and a 1 year high of $423.56. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $22.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 21.56% and a return on equity of 46.31%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays raised Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $360.00 to $415.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waters presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $391.07.

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.