GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Acquires 629 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,047 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 629 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Waters were worth $6,106,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 36.1% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,582 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC raised its position in Waters by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 85,915 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $24,927,000 after buying an additional 8,547 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in Waters by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,084 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Waters by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 323,966 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $93,989,000 after buying an additional 3,163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Linscomb Wealth Inc. raised its position in Waters by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 7,841 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,275,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WAT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Leerink Partnrs raised Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Waters in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $320.00 price target on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Waters in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $380.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partners raised Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Waters has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $318.50.

Waters Stock Performance

WAT opened at $325.86 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $325.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $324.77. The company has a market capitalization of $19.34 billion, a PE ratio of 31.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.95. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $231.90 and a 1 year high of $367.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 1.42.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $709.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $700.09 million. Waters had a return on equity of 56.81% and a net margin of 20.71%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. Research analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 11.6 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.