Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 10,991 Shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund reduced its stake in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) by 52.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,880 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 10,991 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Waters were worth $3,641,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Waters during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Waters by 129.3% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 94 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Waters by 5,200.0% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 106 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Waters in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 54.3% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 125 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WAT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $370.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. KeyCorp upgraded Waters from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $460.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Waters from $355.00 to $374.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Waters from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $388.00.

Waters Price Performance

WAT stock traded down $1.86 during trading on Monday, hitting $350.55. The company had a trading volume of 25,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 469,445. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $347.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $364.90. Waters Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $279.24 and a fifty-two week high of $423.56. The company has a market cap of $20.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $661.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $655.50 million. Waters had a net margin of 22.02% and a return on equity of 41.70%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.21 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Waters Corporation will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Waters

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.