Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 71 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its holdings in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,016 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 71 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Waters were worth $4,684,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 70.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 656,019 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $236,095,000 after buying an additional 271,804 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in Waters by 34.4% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 393,890 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $141,757,000 after purchasing an additional 100,811 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Waters by 21.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 448,304 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $130,053,000 after purchasing an additional 77,951 shares during the period. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC grew its position in Waters by 3,627.0% in the 3rd quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 68,987 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $24,828,000 after purchasing an additional 67,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 71.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 140,992 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $50,742,000 after purchasing an additional 58,983 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WAT has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $355.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Waters from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $375.85.

Waters Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of WAT stock opened at $360.63 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.41, a P/E/G ratio of 6.92 and a beta of 1.01. Waters Co. has a 12-month low of $279.24 and a 12-month high of $397.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $367.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $337.42.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. Waters had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 21.43%. The business had revenue of $740.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $712.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.84 EPS. Waters’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.