1,710 Shares in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Acquired by MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC

MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,710 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $563,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 3.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,092,459 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $299,563,000 after buying an additional 32,059 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Waters by 129.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 973,537 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $322,017,000 after buying an additional 550,112 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waters by 34.3% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 832,895 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $228,388,000 after purchasing an additional 212,754 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in Waters by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 582,048 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $191,628,000 after acquiring an additional 10,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, London Co. of Virginia acquired a new position in Waters during the third quarter valued at approximately $158,723,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of WAT traded up $4.20 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $324.06. 453,235 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 413,881. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $333.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $310.25. Waters Co. has a 52 week low of $231.90 and a 52 week high of $363.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.22 billion, a PE ratio of 29.48, a PEG ratio of 6.39 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 2.22.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.54, for a total value of $177,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $799,965. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Waters from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waters currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $298.67.

About Waters

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.