Hartford Investment Management Co. Has $1.36 Million Stock Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Hartford Investment Management Co. reduced its position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,668 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 71 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Waters were worth $1,361,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WAT. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Waters by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,181 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Waters in the 3rd quarter valued at about $225,000. Swedbank AB lifted its position in Waters by 6.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 31,288 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $11,260,000 after acquiring an additional 1,929 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in Waters by 1.4% during the third quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,782 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,001,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Waters by 34.7% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,329 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $478,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Ten 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waters currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $390.40.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WAT opened at $369.71 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $389.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $364.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.37 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.38. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $279.24 and a 1 year high of $423.56.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. As a group, research analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 11.79 EPS for the current fiscal 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.