Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Stake Raised by DnB Asset Management AS

DnB Asset Management AS raised its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,294 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Waters were worth $3,819,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new stake in Waters during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 235.7% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Waters by 129.3% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Waters during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 54.3% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 125 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WAT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Scotiabank raised Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays raised shares of Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $360.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waters currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $401.31.

Waters Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:WAT opened at $368.53 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $21.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $386.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $373.25. Waters Co. has a 52 week low of $279.24 and a 52 week high of $423.56.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waters 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.