Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 1,679 Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,871 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 1,679 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Waters were worth $7,743,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of Waters in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in Waters in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Waters in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 235.7% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Waters in the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank raised Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waters presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $390.40.

Waters Stock Up 1.2 %

Waters stock opened at $385.54 on Thursday. Waters Co. has a 1-year low of $279.24 and a 1-year high of $423.56. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $389.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $366.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.00, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.01.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a return on equity of 46.31% and a net margin of 21.56%. Equities research analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waters 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.