State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Has $7.21 Million Holdings in Waters Corporation $WAT

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its holdings in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 8.3% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,565 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 1,766 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Waters were worth $7,211,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Waters by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 335,275 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $123,572,000 after acquiring an additional 2,688 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waters by 42.3% during the 1st quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 8,304 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,956,000 after acquiring an additional 2,468 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 852 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 1,187 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $437,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its position in shares of Waters by 9.6% in the first quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 14,813 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $5,460,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on WAT. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $315.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $385.00 price target on shares of Waters and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Waters from $370.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Waters from $374.00 to $352.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $315.00 target price on Waters and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Waters currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $378.73.

Waters Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of WAT stock opened at $291.63 on Monday. Waters Corporation has a twelve month low of $275.05 and a twelve month high of $423.56. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $319.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $345.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.04.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.93 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $771.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $745.96 million. Waters had a return on equity of 38.60% and a net margin of 21.71%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.63 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Waters Corporation 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.