ING Groep NV Invests $1.85 Million in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

ING Groep NV bought a new stake in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 4,984 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,849,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WAT. Advisory Alpha LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 1,065 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Waters by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,198 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $431,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Waters by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 966 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Waters by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 9,610 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,565,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Waters by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 851 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Waters has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $390.40.

Waters Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of Waters stock opened at $374.24 on Monday. 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 $22.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.94, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.01. Waters Co. has a twelve month low of $279.24 and a twelve month high of $423.56. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $388.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $366.15.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 EPS 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 anticipate 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.