Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Short Interest Update

Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) saw a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,620,000 shares, a growth of 24.6% from the February 13th total of 1,300,000 shares. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 470,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on WAT shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank upgraded Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waters presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $391.07.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waters

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Advisory Alpha LLC grew its position in shares of Waters by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 1,065 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Waters by 2.4% during the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,198 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Waters by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 966 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in shares of Waters by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 9,610 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,565,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Waters by 3.8% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 851 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $306,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waters Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE WAT traded up $3.07 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $381.99. The stock had a trading volume of 484,915 shares, compared to its average volume of 437,494. The company has a market capitalization of $22.69 billion, a PE ratio of 35.67, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $391.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $370.72. Waters has a twelve month low of $279.24 and a twelve month high of $423.56.

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