Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Has $1.59 Million Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lessened its holdings in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,420 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 290 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Waters were worth $1,591,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its position in Waters by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,577,733 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $927,700,000 after acquiring an additional 49,194 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Waters by 1.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,416,683 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $508,123,000 after purchasing an additional 16,703 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 0.7% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 885,593 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $318,717,000 after purchasing an additional 6,256 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Waters by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 659,539 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $219,811,000 after purchasing an additional 6,647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Waters by 70.7% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waters Stock Performance

WAT stock opened at $373.72 on Wednesday. Waters Co. has a 1-year low of $279.24 and a 1-year high of $397.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $22.19 billion, a PE ratio of 35.66, a P/E/G ratio of 6.92 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $366.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $337.09.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $712.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.84 EPS. Waters’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on WAT. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Cfra set a $389.00 price objective on Waters in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Waters from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $355.00 to $415.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. 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.com, Waters has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $375.85.

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.