California State Teachers Retirement System Trims Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

California State Teachers Retirement System cut its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT – Get Rating) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 99,418 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 1,384 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Waters were worth $26,796,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WAT. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Waters by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,977 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,165,000 after purchasing an additional 645 shares during the last quarter. Group One Trading L.P. purchased a new stake in Waters during the 1st quarter valued at about $135,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its position in Waters by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 8,167 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,535,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Waters by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 294,027 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $91,287,000 after purchasing an additional 4,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC grew its position in Waters by 39.4% during the 1st quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 4,626 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 1,308 shares during the last quarter. 88.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on WAT shares. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Waters from $334.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Waters from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Waters from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Waters in a report on Tuesday, December 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $350.00 price target on the stock. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Waters has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $354.00.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WAT opened at $298.97 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $326.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $316.84. Waters Co. has a twelve month low of $265.61 and a twelve month high of $369.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.62 billion, a PE ratio of 25.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.86.

Waters (NYSE:WAT – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 15th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.74 by $0.10. Waters had a net margin of 23.81% and a return on equity of 175.08%. The company had revenue of $858.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $832.85 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 12.67 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark P. Vergnano bought 3,185 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $313.32 per share, for a total transaction of $997,924.20. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,557 shares in the company, valued at $1,114,479.24. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waters Company Profile

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Waters Corp. engages in the provision of workflow solutions involving liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, and thermal analysis. It operates through the Waters and TA (TA Instruments) segments. The Waters segment consists of liquid chromatography instruments, mass spectrometry, and precision chemistry consumable products and services.