Arizona State Retirement System Boosts Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,244 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 138 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Waters were worth $5,348,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WAT. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 79.6% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,504,592 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $467,011,000 after purchasing an additional 666,851 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Waters during the fourth quarter valued at $215,981,000. London Co. of Virginia purchased a new stake in shares of Waters during the third quarter valued at $158,723,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 129.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 973,537 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $322,017,000 after purchasing an additional 550,112 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 37.2% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,018,487 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $538,008,000 after acquiring an additional 547,777 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Waters from $265.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 11th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Waters from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Waters in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Waters from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $298.67.

Insider Activity at Waters

In related news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.54, for a total value of $177,770.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,250 shares in the company, valued at $799,965. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of WAT stock opened at $335.94 on Monday. Waters Co. has a fifty-two week low of $231.90 and a fifty-two week high of $363.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.96, a PEG ratio of 6.69 and a beta of 0.92. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $336.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $302.54.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.56 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $819.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $815.50 million. Waters had a return on equity of 81.30% and a net margin of 21.72%. Waters’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.