Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Acquired by Impax Asset Management Group plc

Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 10.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 714,155 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 68,509 shares during the quarter. Waters comprises 1.2% of Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in Waters were worth $264,937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Waters by 1.9% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 valued at $508,123,000 after buying an additional 16,703 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Waters by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 885,593 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $318,717,000 after acquiring an additional 6,256 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Waters by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 728,534 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $270,272,000 after acquiring an additional 72,515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Waters by 1.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 659,539 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $219,811,000 after acquiring an additional 6,647 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on WAT shares. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays raised Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $360.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com raised Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Ten 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Waters presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $390.40.

Waters Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of Waters stock opened at $374.24 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $22.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.01. Waters Co. has a 52-week low of $279.24 and a 52-week high of $423.56. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $388.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $366.15. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current 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.