Brokerages Set Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) PT at $327.00

by · The Markets Daily

Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT – Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $335.64.

A number of research firms have commented on WAT. Leerink Partnrs raised Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Waters to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $310.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Leerink Partners raised shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $325.00 to $375.00 in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on WAT

Institutional Trading of Waters

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Foguth Wealth Management LLC. bought a new stake in Waters in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,773,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waters in the 4th quarter valued at $962,000. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH increased its position in shares of Waters by 2,134.3% in the 1st quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 5,921 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,038,000 after buying an additional 5,656 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Waters by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,837,662 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,251,163,000 after buying an additional 64,525 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in Waters by 223.8% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,222 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,707,000 after acquiring an additional 5,683 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waters Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WAT opened at $358.78 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $339.49 and its 200-day moving average is $324.29. 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 52 week low of $231.90 and a 52 week high of $367.21. The company has a market capitalization of $21.28 billion, a PE ratio of 35.21, a P/E/G ratio of 6.93 and a beta of 0.95.

Waters (NYSE:WAT – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 56.81%. The firm had revenue of $709.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $700.09 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Waters will post 11.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Waters

(Get Free Report

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.

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