1,343 Shares in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Acquired by Landscape Capital Management L.L.C.

Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,343 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $483,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in 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 buying an additional 271,804 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in Waters by 34.4% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 393,890 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $141,757,000 after acquiring an additional 100,811 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 21.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 448,304 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $130,053,000 after purchasing an additional 77,951 shares during the period. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 3,627.0% in the 3rd quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 68,987 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $24,828,000 after purchasing an additional 67,136 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Waters by 71.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 140,992 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $50,742,000 after purchasing an additional 58,983 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on WAT shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Leerink Partners raised shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on Waters from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $365.85.

Waters Stock Performance

NYSE:WAT opened at $373.47 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.18 billion, a PE ratio of 35.64, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 0.97. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $273.60 and a 1 year high of $393.38. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $354.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $331.99.

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

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.