Marshall Wace LLP Raises Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 438.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 303,076 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 246,738 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Waters were worth $112,435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its stake in Waters by 106,144.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 3,087,461 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,145,386,000 after acquiring an additional 3,084,555 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Waters during the 4th quarter worth approximately $284,415,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waters in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $104,645,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 70.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 656,019 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $236,095,000 after purchasing an additional 271,804 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,654,002 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $984,582,000 after purchasing an additional 212,364 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on WAT. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Waters from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Waters and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $395.38.

Waters Price Performance

Waters stock opened at $321.34 on Thursday. Waters Co. has a 52-week low of $279.24 and a 52-week high of $423.56. The company’s 50 day moving average is $363.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $371.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $19.12 billion, a PE ratio of 30.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.04.

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 return on equity of 46.31% and a net margin of 21.56%. On average, research analysts expect 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.