Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have given a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $365.85.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Waters from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Waters to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 1st.

Institutional Trading of Waters

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH lifted its position in Waters by 2,134.3% during the 1st quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 5,921 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,038,000 after buying an additional 5,656 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Waters by 55.1% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,765 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $5,083,000 after purchasing an additional 5,248 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Waters by 4.3% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 443,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $152,664,000 after purchasing an additional 18,274 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd acquired a new position in Waters during the first quarter worth $1,786,000. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Waters in the first quarter valued at $10,106,000. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of WAT stock opened at $387.34 on Tuesday. Waters has a 1 year low of $241.95 and a 1 year high of $391.00. The stock has a market cap of $22.99 billion, a PE ratio of 36.96, a P/E/G ratio of 7.59 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $342.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $325.43.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The business had revenue of $740.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $712.99 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.84 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waters will post 11.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waters Company 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.