Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC Purchases New Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 545 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 41,339 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Waters by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 421,691 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $156,439,000 after acquiring an additional 27,801 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its position in Waters by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 12,874 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,776,000 after acquiring an additional 782 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Stock Performance

NYSE WAT opened at $325.44 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $368.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $372.48. The stock has a market cap of $19.33 billion, a PE ratio of 30.39, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.04. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $279.24 and a fifty-two week high of $423.56.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a return on equity of 46.31% and a net margin of 21.56%. On average, equities analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on WAT shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Waters from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $396.00 to $407.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Scotiabank upgraded Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Waters from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.25.

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.