Proficio Capital Partners LLC Purchases New Shares in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 113,520 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $42,114,000. Waters makes up 0.5% of Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 70.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 656,019 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $236,095,000 after buying an additional 271,804 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 305,661 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $110,005,000 after buying an additional 82,865 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 714,155 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $264,937,000 after buying an additional 68,509 shares in the last quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waters during the 4th quarter valued at $22,188,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 71.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 140,992 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $50,742,000 after buying an additional 58,983 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays upgraded shares of Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $360.00 to $415.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $391.07.

Waters Price Performance

NYSE WAT opened at $363.94 on Friday. Waters Co. has a 52 week low of $279.24 and a 52 week high of $423.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.98, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $391.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $369.80.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 21.56% and a return on equity of 46.31%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current year.

About Waters

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.