Versant Capital Management Inc Acquires 174 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 669.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 200 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Waters were worth $74,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WAT. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Waters by 1.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,577,733 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $927,700,000 after buying an additional 49,194 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,416,683 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $508,123,000 after acquiring an additional 16,703 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Waters by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 885,593 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $318,717,000 after purchasing an additional 6,256 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Waters by 1.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 659,539 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $219,811,000 after purchasing an additional 6,647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 70.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 656,019 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $236,095,000 after purchasing an additional 271,804 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Price Performance

WAT stock opened at $371.76 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $372.91 and its 200-day moving average is $343.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.07 billion, a PE ratio of 35.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.92 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.38. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $279.24 and a 1 year high of $397.02.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $740.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $712.99 million. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.84 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 11.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Waters in a report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $430.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $355.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Waters from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Waters from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Waters currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $379.71.

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.