Waters (NYSE:WAT) Lowered to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Waters (NYSE:WAT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday.

WAT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Scotiabank raised Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays upgraded shares of Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $360.00 to $415.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Waters currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $390.40.

Waters Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of WAT opened at $373.26 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $22.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.01. Waters has a 1 year low of $279.24 and a 1 year high of $423.56. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $389.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $367.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 21.56% and a return on equity of 46.31%. On average, analysts forecast that Waters will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waters

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 106,144.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 3,087,461 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,145,386,000 after buying an additional 3,084,555 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Waters during the 4th quarter valued at about $284,415,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Waters by 3,349.7% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 304,404 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $112,928,000 after acquiring an additional 295,580 shares in the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Waters in the fourth quarter worth about $104,645,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waters by 70.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 656,019 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $236,095,000 after purchasing an additional 271,804 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.