O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Has $2.03 Million Stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 29.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,469 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 1,253 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $2,029,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WAT. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in Waters by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,587 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,331,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Waters by 34.8% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC grew its position in Waters by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $632,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Waters by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,578 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $928,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in Waters by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 421,691 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $156,439,000 after buying an additional 27,801 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WAT. Bank of America lowered their target price on Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised Waters from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $396.00 to $407.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $401.31.

Waters Trading Down 6.0 %

Shares of WAT stock opened at $324.57 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $381.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $373.15. Waters Co. has a twelve month low of $279.24 and a twelve month high of $423.56.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS 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.