Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $375.85.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $355.00 to $415.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Waters from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waters

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in Waters in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Waters during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Waters in the 2nd quarter valued at $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 worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waters in the second quarter valued at $59,000. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Stock Down 0.1 %

WAT opened at $373.72 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $22.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.92 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 2.02. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $366.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $337.09. Waters has a twelve month low of $279.24 and a twelve month high of $397.02.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $740.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $712.99 million. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. Waters’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.84 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Waters will post 11.79 EPS 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.