Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Raises Stock Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 36,055 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,063 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Waters were worth $11,870,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 6,025 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,984,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 38.1% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 21,130 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $6,957,000 after purchasing an additional 5,832 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 125.5% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 221 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. abrdn plc boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 229,398 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $75,525,000 after purchasing an additional 27,547 shares during the period. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waters during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on WAT. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waters presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $298.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waters news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.54, for a total transaction of $177,770.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $799,965. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waters Stock Up 5.3 %

Shares of NYSE:WAT traded up $15.72 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $314.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 271,153 shares, compared to its average volume of 405,672. Waters Co. has a 52 week low of $231.90 and a 52 week high of $363.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The company has a market capitalization of $18.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.94, a P/E/G ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $335.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $306.34.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.56 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $819.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $815.50 million. Waters had a net margin of 21.72% and a return on equity of 81.30%. Waters’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.84 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 11.89 EPS for the current 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.