New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 2,701 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 4.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 54,489 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 2,701 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Waters were worth $15,808,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,879,316 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,368,067,000 after buying an additional 41,654 shares in the last quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd boosted its stake in Waters by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 1,110,898 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $382,404,000 after purchasing an additional 11,851 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Waters during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $206,286,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Waters by 6.8% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 601,039 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $206,895,000 after acquiring an additional 38,046 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Waters by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 443,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $152,664,000 after purchasing an additional 18,274 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waters news, Director Richard H. Fearon purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $332.90 per share, with a total value of $332,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 1,653 shares in the company, valued at $550,283.70. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Waters Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE WAT traded up $3.91 during trading on Friday, reaching $340.00. 83,068 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 439,526. Waters Co. has a 12-month low of $231.90 and a 12-month high of $367.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market cap of $20.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $310.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $323.60.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $709.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $700.09 million. Waters had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 56.81%. The company’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 11.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on WAT shares. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Waters to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $310.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Waters from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, SVB Leerink upgraded Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $310.58.

About Waters

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.