Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Acquires 95 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its holdings in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 186.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 146 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Waters were worth $48,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Waters by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,889 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $15,325,000 after buying an additional 4,936 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Waters by 295.9% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 127,879 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $42,102,000 after buying an additional 95,577 shares during the last quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Waters by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc. now owns 227,250 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $74,818,000 after buying an additional 41,638 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Waters by 129.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 973,537 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $322,017,000 after buying an additional 550,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its position in Waters by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 13,066 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,302,000 after buying an additional 3,194 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Waters

In other news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.54, for a total value of $177,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $799,965. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of Waters stock opened at $295.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.57. Waters Co. has a one year low of $231.90 and a one year high of $363.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.85 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $335.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $305.56.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.56 by $0.06. Waters had a net margin of 21.72% and a return on equity of 81.30%. The company had revenue of $819.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $815.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.84 earnings per share. Waters’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 11.89 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WAT. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Waters from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Waters from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $298.67.

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.