Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Boosts Stock Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,029 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 896 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned 0.06% of Waters worth $11,203,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. IMPACTfolio LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. IMPACTfolio LLC now owns 803 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Waters by 55.3% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 118 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Waters by 3.9% in the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,180 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Waters by 35.2% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 173 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wetherby Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Waters by 2.9% in the first quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,645 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $511,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Waters from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Waters from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $298.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.54, for a total transaction of $177,770.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 2,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $799,965. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Waters Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Waters stock opened at $295.98 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.55 billion, a PE ratio of 27.28, a P/E/G ratio of 5.85 and a beta of 0.92. Waters Co. has a 1-year low of $231.90 and a 1-year high of $363.80. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $335.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $305.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.56 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $819.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $815.50 million. Waters had a net margin of 21.72% and a return on equity of 81.30%. The company’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.84 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current 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.