Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Shares Acquired by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP boosted its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 39.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,918 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,600 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Waters were worth $9,986,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waters by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,098,668 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,633,464,000 after acquiring an additional 19,456 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its position in Waters by 106,144.4% during the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 3,087,461 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,145,386,000 after purchasing an additional 3,084,555 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 16,703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Waters by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 885,593 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $318,717,000 after buying an additional 6,256 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp raised Waters from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $460.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Baird R W raised shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $401.31.

Waters Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of WAT opened at $368.53 on Tuesday. Waters Co. has a one year low of $279.24 and a one year high of $423.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $386.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $373.25. 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 company has a market capitalization of $21.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a return on equity of 46.31% and a net margin of 21.56%. Sell-side analysts forecast 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.