Waters (NYSE:WAT) Price Target Raised to $360.00 at Barclays

Waters (NYSE:WAT) had its price target upped by Barclays from $330.00 to $360.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “underweight” rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective indicates a potential downside of 7.03% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on WAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $310.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective 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. Cfra set a $389.00 price objective on shares of Waters in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Leerink Partners raised Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $355.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $345.08.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WAT opened at $387.21 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $342.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $325.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 2.10. Waters has a one year low of $241.40 and a one year high of $389.35. The firm has a market cap of $22.98 billion, a PE ratio of 38.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.35 and a beta of 0.97.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. Waters had a return on equity of 56.81% and a net margin of 20.71%. The company had revenue of $740.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $712.99 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.84 EPS. Waters’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Waters will post 11.6 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waters

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WAT. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Waters during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 190.2% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 119 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Waters by 19,900.0% in the 2nd quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 200 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new position in Waters in the 2nd quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Waters in the 1st quarter worth $72,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

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.