QRG Capital Management Inc. Increases Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 53.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 884 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Waters were worth $328,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Waters by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,577,733 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $927,700,000 after purchasing an additional 49,194 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 16,703 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Waters by 0.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 6,256 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Waters by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 728,534 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $270,272,000 after purchasing an additional 72,515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its position in shares of Waters by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 714,155 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $264,937,000 after purchasing an additional 68,509 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on WAT shares. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank raised shares of Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $391.07.

Waters Stock Up 1.7 %

WAT stock opened at $385.33 on Friday. Waters Co. has a one year low of $279.24 and a one year high of $423.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.89 billion, a PE ratio of 35.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.01. 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 fifty day moving average of $390.10 and a 200-day moving average of $368.21.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 21.56% and a return on equity of 46.31%. As a group, analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS for the current 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.