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

Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) has been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the nine analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and eight have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $298.00.

Several brokerages have issued reports on WAT. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Waters from $305.00 to $290.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Waters from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Waters in a report on Thursday, September 28th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $280.00 price objective on the stock. TheStreet cut shares of Waters from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of Waters from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $270.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waters

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Waters by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,689,208 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,076,263,000 after purchasing an additional 30,274 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Waters by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,520,629 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $965,392,000 after buying an additional 48,740 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Waters by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,619,676 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $698,248,000 after buying an additional 29,920 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in Waters by 37.2% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,018,487 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $538,008,000 after acquiring an additional 547,777 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Waters by 79.6% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,504,592 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $467,011,000 after acquiring an additional 666,851 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Stock Performance

NYSE:WAT opened at $250.97 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.71. Waters has a twelve month low of $231.90 and a twelve month high of $353.70. The company has a fifty day moving average of $260.78 and a 200-day moving average of $268.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.79, a P/E/G ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 0.90.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $711.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $722.27 million. Waters had a net margin of 21.80% and a return on equity of 102.22%. The business’s revenue was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.64 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waters will post 11.69 EPS for the current year.

About Waters

Waters Corporation, a specialty measurement company, 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.