Handelsbanken Fonder AB Boosts Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 37.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,282 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,333 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned approximately 0.06% of Waters worth $14,202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WAT. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waters by 170.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 322 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Waters by 65.6% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,711 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,695,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Waters by 30.9% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,471 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $529,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Waters by 2.6% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,690 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,048,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in Waters by 126.3% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,783 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $642,000 after acquiring an additional 995 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on WAT. Scotiabank raised shares of Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays raised shares of Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $360.00 to $415.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Waters currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $390.40.

Waters Stock Down 1.7 %

Waters stock opened at $374.24 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $388.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $365.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.94. Waters Co. has a one year low of $279.24 and a one year high of $423.56.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current 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.