New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $68.70 Million Stock Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its stake in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 208,655 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 5,597 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.35% of Waters worth $68,695,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WAT. Private Trust Co. NA raised 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 purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Waters in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Waters in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 300.0% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 144 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waters in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waters

In other Waters 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 transaction of $177,770.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,250 shares in the company, valued at $799,965. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WAT shares. Barclays upped their target price on Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a 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 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 report on Wednesday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $298.67.

Waters Trading Up 4.7 %

NYSE:WAT opened at $313.34 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $18.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.88, a P/E/G ratio of 5.95 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $335.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $306.67. Waters Co. has a 1 year low of $231.90 and a 1 year high of $363.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

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