National Pension Service Has $36.09 Million Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

National Pension Service lessened its holdings in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 97,278 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 10,284 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Waters were worth $36,088,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Waters by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,577,733 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $927,700,000 after purchasing an additional 49,194 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Waters by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,416,683 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $508,123,000 after purchasing an additional 16,703 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Waters by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 885,593 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $318,717,000 after purchasing an additional 6,256 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waters by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 728,534 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $270,272,000 after purchasing an additional 72,515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its position 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 worth $264,937,000 after purchasing an additional 68,509 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WAT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank raised Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research report 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 for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $390.40.

Waters Trading Up 1.1 %

WAT stock opened at $377.22 on Friday. Waters Co. has a 1-year low of $279.24 and a 1-year high of $423.56. The firm has a market cap of $22.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s 50 day moving average is $390.04 and its 200-day moving average is $367.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

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