Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Bought by Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 27.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,829 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Waters were worth $2,533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WAT. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waters in the second quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in Waters by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 4,104 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,191,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in Waters by 228.0% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,393 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,305,000 after acquiring an additional 7,920 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Waters by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,242 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,521,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in Waters by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,502 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,757,000 after acquiring an additional 927 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waters Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE:WAT opened at $408.40 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $379.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $352.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.07 and a beta of 1.01. Waters Co. has a 1-year low of $279.24 and a 1-year high of $416.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The company had revenue of $740.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $712.99 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WAT shares. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank started coverage on Waters in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $430.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $384.71.

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.