19,792 Shares in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Purchased by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 19,792 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $7,342,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WAT. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in Waters by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,587 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,331,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 34.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 159,995 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $57,579,000 after purchasing an additional 41,339 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Waters by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $632,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in Waters by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,578 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $928,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in Waters by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 421,691 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $156,439,000 after buying an additional 27,801 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com lowered Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $360.00 to $415.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $391.07.

Waters Stock Up 2.1 %

NYSE WAT opened at $373.07 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.83, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. Waters Co. has a 52 week low of $279.24 and a 52 week high of $423.56. The company has a fifty day moving average of $390.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $371.85. 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 data 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 return on equity of 46.31% and a net margin of 21.56%. On average, analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current 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.