South Dakota Investment Council Has $277,000 Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

South Dakota Investment Council trimmed its holdings in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 62.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 747 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 1,238 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Waters were worth $277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. ING Groep NV bought a new position in Waters in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,849,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 37.0% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 38,282 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $14,202,000 after buying an additional 10,333 shares during the last quarter. Parthenon LLC grew its stake in shares of Waters by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Parthenon LLC now owns 32,881 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $12,198,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in Waters by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $549,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in Waters during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WAT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays raised shares of Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $360.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $390.40.

Waters Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of WAT opened at $379.29 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $388.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $366.48. The company has a market cap of $22.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.01. Waters Co. has a one year low of $279.24 and a one year high of $423.56. 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 (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS 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.