Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Decreases Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund trimmed its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 25.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,513 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 4,700 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Waters were worth $5,013,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WAT. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Waters by 70.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 656,019 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $236,095,000 after acquiring an additional 271,804 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 34.4% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 393,890 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $141,757,000 after purchasing an additional 100,811 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 37.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 305,661 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $110,005,000 after buying an additional 82,865 shares during the last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC grew its position in Waters by 3,627.0% during the third quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 68,987 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $24,828,000 after buying an additional 67,136 shares during the period. Finally, Smith Group Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Waters during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $22,188,000. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WAT opened at $381.31 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $22.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.60, a P/E/G 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 has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $389.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $366.82.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued 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, analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WAT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays upgraded shares of 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 note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com lowered Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Eleven 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Waters currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $390.40.

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.