BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Acquires 807 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) by 38.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,926 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in Waters were worth $1,085,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Waters by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,587 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,331,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Waters by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 159,995 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $57,579,000 after acquiring an additional 41,339 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC boosted its stake in Waters by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $632,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in Waters by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 421,691 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $156,439,000 after purchasing an additional 27,801 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its stake in Waters by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 12,874 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $4,776,000 after purchasing an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $400.00 price target on shares of Waters and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com lowered Waters from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Baird R W raised Waters from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $392.13.

Waters Stock Up 0.1 %

WAT traded up $0.48 on Monday, hitting $338.37. 66,538 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 473,832. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock's fifty day moving average is $355.96 and its 200-day moving average is $370.57. The company has a market cap of $20.13 billion, a PE ratio of 31.63, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.04. Waters Co. has a 12 month low of $279.24 and a 12 month high of $423.56.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last released 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS for the current fiscal 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.