Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Bought by Mackenzie Financial Corp

Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 191,502 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 18,959 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp’s holdings in Waters were worth $63,048,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WAT. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. raised its stake in Waters by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 28,233 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $9,295,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Waters during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,185,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Waters by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,062,000 after buying an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Waters by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 20,468 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $6,739,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Waters by 42.7% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,337 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $440,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WAT shares. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Waters from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays upped their target price on Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Waters from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $298.67.

Waters Trading Down 1.8 %

Waters stock opened at $313.72 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The company has a market capitalization of $18.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.91, a PEG ratio of 6.36 and a beta of 0.92. Waters Co. has a one year low of $231.90 and a one year high of $363.80. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $337.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $305.47.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.56 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $819.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $815.50 million. Waters had a return on equity of 81.30% and a net margin of 21.72%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.84 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waters news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.54, for a total transaction of $177,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $799,965. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.