Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Sells 303 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lowered its position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,200 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 303 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Waters were worth $1,919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Waters by 1,719.0% in the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 382 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Credit Suisse AG raised its stake in shares of Waters by 2.0% in the first quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 123,491 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $38,237,000 after purchasing an additional 2,479 shares during the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Waters in the first quarter worth approximately $65,000. Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Waters by 5.4% in the first quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,030 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Waters by 144.4% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 909 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on WAT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Waters in a research note on Thursday, September 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $280.00 price objective for the company. TheStreet downgraded Waters from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Waters from $305.00 to $290.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Waters from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Waters from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $298.00.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WAT opened at $266.20 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $260.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $268.47. Waters Co. has a 1-year low of $231.90 and a 1-year high of $353.70. The firm has a market cap of $15.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.85 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.71.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.28. Waters had a return on equity of 102.22% and a net margin of 21.80%. The business had revenue of $711.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $722.27 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.64 earnings per share. Waters’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Waters Co. will post 11.69 earnings per share for the current year.

About Waters

Waters Corporation, a specialty measurement company, 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.