Teacher Retirement System of Texas Acquires New Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 556 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WAT. FMR LLC raised its position in Waters by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 81,653 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $29,386,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waters in the third quarter worth $229,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $928,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Waters by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,747 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $989,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new position in Waters in the 3rd quarter worth about $256,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on WAT shares. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Waters from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $396.00 to $407.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $401.31.

Waters Price Performance

Waters stock opened at $362.21 on Thursday. Waters Co. has a 12-month low of $279.24 and a 12-month high of $423.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $384.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $373.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.52 billion, a PE ratio of 33.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, equities research analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS for the current 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.