Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Grows Position in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 42.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 540 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Waters were worth $200,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WAT. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Waters by 50,228.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 662,320 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $244,111,000 after buying an additional 661,004 shares in the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 676.8% in the 1st quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 705,733 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $260,112,000 after acquiring an additional 614,877 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Waters by 3,349.7% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 304,404 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $112,928,000 after purchasing an additional 295,580 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Waters by 438.0% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 303,076 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $112,435,000 after acquiring an additional 246,738 shares during the period. Finally, BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments purchased a new stake in shares of Waters during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,704,000. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WAT opened at $299.27 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $17.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.16, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.10. Waters Corporation has a twelve month low of $279.61 and a twelve month high of $423.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a 50 day moving average of $334.87 and a 200 day moving average of $356.62.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.03. Waters had a return on equity of 41.70% and a net margin of 22.02%. The firm had revenue of $661.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $655.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Waters Corporation will post 12.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WAT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on Waters from $370.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Waters from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $420.00 to $330.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays decreased their target price on Waters from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $400.00 price target on shares of Waters and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Waters from $374.00 to $352.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $381.94.

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.