Brokerages Set Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Price Target at $390.40

Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Ten investment 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. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $391.07.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WAT. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays upgraded shares of Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $360.00 to $415.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of WAT opened at $392.34 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.31 billion, a PE ratio of 36.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. Waters has a one year low of $279.24 and a one year high of $423.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $390.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $368.33.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Waters will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waters

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAT. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Waters by 52,500.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,838 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,461,000 after buying an additional 6,825 shares in the last quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New acquired a new position in Waters in the third quarter valued at about $217,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Waters by 6.9% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,204 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Waters in the third quarter valued at about $288,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Waters by 1.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 659,539 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $219,811,000 after buying an additional 6,647 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.