Huntington National Bank Acquires 48 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,377 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Waters were worth $496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WAT. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Waters in the first quarter worth approximately $256,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Waters during the 1st quarter valued at $204,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 48.1% in the 1st quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 8,950 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,081,000 after purchasing an additional 2,908 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waters by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,879,316 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,368,067,000 after purchasing an additional 41,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 21.6% during the first quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 1,064 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WAT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on Waters from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $365.85.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of WAT opened at $358.46 on Friday. Waters Co. has a 52 week low of $258.89 and a 52 week high of $393.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $21.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.20, a PEG ratio of 6.89 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $350.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $330.58.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $740.30 million for 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 company’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.84 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 11.79 EPS for the current year.

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.