Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Boosts Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 127.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,380 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,200 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Waters were worth $9,414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Waters by 106,144.4% in the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 3,087,461 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,145,386,000 after purchasing an additional 3,084,555 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Waters by 1.9% in 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Waters by 1.2% in 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 period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Waters by 0.7% in 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 period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waters by 11.1% in 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 period. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of WAT stock opened at $378.18 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $391.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $370.04. Waters Co. has a 52 week low of $279.24 and a 52 week high of $423.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.47 billion, a PE ratio of 35.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 21.56% and a return on equity of 46.31%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank raised shares of Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised 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, Barclays raised shares of Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $360.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Eleven investment 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $391.07.

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.