Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 9,223 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 10.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 95,929 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 9,223 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.16% of Waters worth $35,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in Waters by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,587 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,331,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Waters by 34.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 159,995 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $57,579,000 after buying an additional 41,339 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC raised its stake in Waters by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $632,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in Waters by 13.2% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,578 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $928,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in Waters by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 421,691 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $156,439,000 after buying an additional 27,801 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WAT shares. Barclays raised 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. Bank of America dropped their price target on Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank raised shares of Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Waters from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $396.00 to $407.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waters currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.40.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of Waters stock opened at $361.61 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $21.48 billion, a PE ratio of 33.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Waters Co. has a 52 week low of $279.24 and a 52 week high of $423.56. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $387.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $372.60.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued 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 46.31% and a net margin of 21.56%. Equities analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share 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.