Lafayette Investments Inc. Acquires 267 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Lafayette Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,462 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Waters were worth $2,786,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Waters by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,977 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,165,000 after buying an additional 645 shares during the last quarter. Group One Trading L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Waters in the first quarter valued at approximately $135,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its stake in shares of Waters by 6.6% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 8,167 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,535,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Waters by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 294,027 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $91,287,000 after purchasing an additional 4,656 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential PLC boosted its stake in Waters by 39.4% in the 1st quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 4,626 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 1,308 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Waters from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Waters from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $298.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waters news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.54, for a total value of $177,770.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,250 shares in the company, valued at $799,965. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Waters Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE:WAT traded up $2.88 on Friday, hitting $297.11. The stock had a trading volume of 94,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 403,214. The business’s fifty day moving average is $336.42 and its 200 day moving average is $305.38. The company has a market cap of $17.62 billion, a PE ratio of 27.12, a P/E/G ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. Waters Co. has a 52 week low of $231.90 and a 52 week high of $363.80.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.56 by $0.06. The business 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 quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.84 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.