Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 77,951 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 21.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 448,304 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 77,951 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.76% of Waters worth $130,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WAT. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 215.7% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 425,219 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $139,995,000 after purchasing an additional 290,511 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 148.6% during the fourth quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 259,691 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $85,498,000 after purchasing an additional 155,235 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,837,662 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,251,163,000 after purchasing an additional 64,525 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Waters by 8.6% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 652,892 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $189,417,000 after acquiring an additional 51,853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Waters by 32.5% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 175,724 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $57,858,000 after acquiring an additional 43,066 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waters Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Waters stock opened at $336.56 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $329.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $324.22. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $231.90 and a 1 year high of $367.21. The stock has a market cap of $19.96 billion, a PE ratio of 33.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.95.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 56.81%. The firm had revenue of $709.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $700.09 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.80 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 11.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Waters from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $310.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Waters to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $318.50.

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.