Legal & General Group Plc Has $156.96 Million Stock Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 21.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 423,098 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 112,237 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Waters were worth $156,961,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Waters by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 5,962 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,187,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 270 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Waters during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 890 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $330,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 46,552 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $17,270,000 after buying an additional 1,932 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waters Price Performance

WAT stock opened at $335.92 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.96 billion, a PE ratio of 31.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50-day moving average is $372.44 and its 200-day moving average is $372.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $279.24 and a 1 year high of $423.56.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WAT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $401.31.

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.