Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Position Lifted by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,798 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,830 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Waters were worth $9,200,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Waters by 106,144.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 3,087,461 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,145,386,000 after acquiring an additional 3,084,555 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Waters by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,577,733 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $927,700,000 after acquiring an additional 49,194 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 valued at $508,123,000 after acquiring an additional 16,703 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Waters by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 885,593 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $318,717,000 after acquiring an additional 6,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Waters by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 728,534 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $270,272,000 after acquiring an additional 72,515 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waters Stock Up 0.7 %

Waters stock opened at $365.75 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $21.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.15, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $390.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $371.28. Waters Co. has a 52 week low of $279.24 and a 52 week high of $423.56.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WAT shares. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $391.07.

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.