Empirical Finance LLC Purchases 42 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 2.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,027 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $729,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in Waters during the third quarter worth $33,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Waters during the third quarter worth $35,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Waters during the second quarter worth $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Waters by 190.2% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 119 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its stake in Waters by 19,900.0% during the second quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 200 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of WAT stock opened at $358.46 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $350.75 and a 200-day moving average of $330.58. The company has a market cap of $21.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.20, a P/E/G ratio of 6.56 and a beta of 0.97. 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 one year low of $258.89 and a one year high of $393.38.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $740.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $712.99 million. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.84 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 11.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WAT. Leerink Partners raised shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Cfra set a $389.00 price objective on shares of Waters in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waters presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $365.85.

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.