California Public Employees Retirement System Cuts Stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 21.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 87,597 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 24,223 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Waters were worth $28,840,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. IMPACTfolio LLC grew its stake in shares of Waters by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. IMPACTfolio LLC now owns 803 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of Waters by 55.3% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 118 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Waters by 3.9% during the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,180 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of Waters by 35.2% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 173 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Waters by 5.6% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 937 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WAT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Waters from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Waters from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waters currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $298.67.

Waters Stock Up 1.0 %

WAT stock opened at $311.30 on Friday. Waters Co. has a fifty-two week low of $231.90 and a fifty-two week high of $363.80. The business’s 50-day moving average is $334.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $307.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 2.22. The company has a market cap of $18.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.69, a P/E/G ratio of 6.19 and a beta of 0.92.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.56 by $0.06. Waters had a return on equity of 81.30% and a net margin of 21.72%. The firm had revenue of $819.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $815.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Waters

In other news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.54, for a total value of $177,770.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $799,965. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

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.