Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Given Consensus Rating of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $301.20.

WAT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Waters from $319.00 to $312.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Waters from $330.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Waters from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Waters from $295.00 to $275.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Waters from $350.00 to $358.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Richard H. Fearon bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $332.90 per share, with a total value of $332,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,653 shares in the company, valued at $550,283.70. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Waters news, Director Christopher A. Kuebler sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.64, for a total value of $1,446,560.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,716 shares in the company, valued at $5,321,894.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Richard H. Fearon purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $332.90 per share, with a total value of $332,900.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $550,283.70. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waters

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Waters by 16.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 758 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Waters by 1.3% during the second quarter. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. now owns 10,958 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,179,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 310.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,635 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,596,000 after acquiring an additional 3,505 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Waters during the first quarter worth about $10,106,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Waters by 61.6% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 6,584 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,509 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE WAT opened at $284.49 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.88 billion, a PE ratio of 27.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 0.95. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $315.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $323.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. Waters has a 12 month low of $231.90 and a 12 month high of $367.21.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $636.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $635.57 million. Waters had a net margin of 20.75% and a return on equity of 66.59%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.49 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Waters will post 11.85 EPS for the current 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.