Nomura Holdings Inc. Takes $726,000 Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,956 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $726,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WAT. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Waters during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in Waters during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in Waters by 129.3% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in Waters during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Waters by 54.3% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 125 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on WAT. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Waters from $355.00 to $374.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Bank of America reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Waters from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $390.19.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of WAT stock opened at $362.20 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $21.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Waters Co. has a 1-year low of $279.24 and a 1-year high of $423.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $346.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $371.27.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.03. Waters had a net margin of 21.56% and a return on equity of 46.31%. The business had revenue of $661.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $655.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.21 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.