E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 358 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 56.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 996 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Waters were worth $369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Advisory Alpha LLC boosted its stake in 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 period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Waters by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,198 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Waters by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 966 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in Waters by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 9,610 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,565,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Waters by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 851 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America cut their price target on Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays raised Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $360.00 to $415.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Eleven 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $391.07.

Waters Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE WAT opened at $392.34 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $23.31 billion, a PE ratio of 36.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. Waters Co. has a one year low of $279.24 and a one year high of $423.56. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $390.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $368.92. 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 released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 46.31% and a net margin of 21.56%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 12.86 earnings per share 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.