Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Takes Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 11,762 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $4,363,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WAT. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Waters by 3.8% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 851 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Waters by 8.2% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 8,780 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,160,000 after buying an additional 662 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of Waters by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 176,100 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $63,377,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Waters by 1.7% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 3,916 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its stake in Waters by 0.5% in the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 10,868 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,912,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WAT. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group upped their price target on Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank raised 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $391.07.

Waters Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:WAT opened at $381.99 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $22.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.67, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $391.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $370.97.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a return on equity of 46.31% and a net margin of 21.56%. Sell-side analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share 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.