New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Reduces Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lessened its holdings in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,840 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Waters were worth $1,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Waters during the 4th quarter worth $2,578,000. Avestar Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waters in the 4th quarter valued at about $260,000. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Waters during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,909,000. Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in Waters by 41.4% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Waters by 3.8% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WAT. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com raised Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Scotiabank raised shares of Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Bank of America reduced 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. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $390.40.

Waters Stock Down 2.5 %

Waters stock opened at $369.71 on Tuesday. Waters Co. has a one year low of $279.24 and a one year high of $423.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 2.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.28, a P/E/G ratio of 7.37 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $389.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $364.87.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Waters Company 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.