Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Trims Holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS cut its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,625 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 298 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Waters were worth $4,684,000 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. Pathstone Holdings LLC grew its position in Waters by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 3,916 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in Waters during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,631,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Waters during the 3rd quarter valued at about $483,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Waters by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 384,641 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $138,428,000 after purchasing an additional 7,865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its position in Waters by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 1,340 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waters Stock Performance

WAT opened at $365.75 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $21.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.15, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50 day moving average is $390.80 and its 200 day moving average is $371.28. Waters Co. has a 12-month low of $279.24 and a 12-month high of $423.56.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 21.56% and a return on equity of 46.31%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Waters Co. will post 12.86 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on WAT. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays raised shares of Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $360.00 to $415.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Scotiabank raised shares of Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $391.07.

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.