Hartford Investment Management Co. Sells 71 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Hartford Investment Management Co. trimmed its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,668 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 71 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Waters were worth $1,361,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 271,804 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Waters by 34.4% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 393,890 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $141,757,000 after purchasing an additional 100,811 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Waters by 37.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 305,661 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $110,005,000 after purchasing an additional 82,865 shares during the last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Waters by 3,627.0% in the third quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 68,987 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $24,828,000 after buying an additional 67,136 shares during the period. Finally, Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Waters during the fourth quarter worth about $22,188,000. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WAT. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays upgraded 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 raised Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. 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 research report on Thursday. Ten research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waters presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $390.40.

Waters Price Performance

WAT stock opened at $369.71 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $21.95 billion, a PE ratio of 35.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.37 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $389.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $364.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $279.24 and a 1 year high of $423.56.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 21.43%. Equities analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 11.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waters Company 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.