Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Has $1.33 Million Stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 15.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,587 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Waters were worth $1,331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Waters by 34.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 159,995 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $57,579,000 after buying an additional 41,339 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC increased its position in Waters by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $632,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in Waters by 13.2% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,578 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $928,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Waters by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 421,691 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $156,439,000 after buying an additional 27,801 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 12,874 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,776,000 after acquiring an additional 782 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays raised shares of Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $360.00 to $415.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waters presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $391.07.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of Waters stock opened at $365.75 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $21.73 billion, a PE ratio of 34.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50 day moving average of $390.80 and a 200-day moving average of $371.28. Waters Co. has a 1-year low of $279.24 and a 1-year high of $423.56.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.