Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Reduces Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado trimmed its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,090 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 285 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Waters were worth $1,767,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WAT. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO purchased a new stake in Waters in the first quarter worth $25,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in Waters during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Waters by 190.2% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 119 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its position in Waters by 19,900.0% in the 2nd quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 200 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waters during the second quarter worth approximately $59,000. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Waters from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Waters in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $320.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partners upgraded Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $318.50.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WAT opened at $339.71 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.15 billion, a PE ratio of 33.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.70 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 2.10. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $330.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $324.07. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $231.90 and a 1 year high of $367.21.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $709.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $700.09 million. Waters had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 56.81%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.80 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 11.6 earnings per share 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.