Waters (NYSE:WAT) Stock Rating Lowered by Wells Fargo & Company

Waters (NYSE:WAT) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $330.00 price target on the medical instruments supplier’s stock, down from their previous price target of $420.00. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 13.94% from the stock’s previous close.

WAT has been the subject of a number of other reports. KeyCorp raised Waters from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen raised Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector outperform” rating and set a $465.00 price objective on shares of Waters in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Waters from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $400.00 price objective on Waters and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $381.94.

Waters Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE WAT opened at $289.63 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $346.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $362.00. The company has a market capitalization of $17.24 billion, a PE ratio of 26.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Waters has a 12 month low of $284.65 and a 12 month high of $423.56.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.03. Waters had a return on equity of 41.70% and a net margin of 22.02%. The business had revenue of $661.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $655.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Waters will post 12.86 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waters

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Waters by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,055 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA raised its position in Waters by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA now owns 3,155 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,163,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its position in Waters by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,048 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC raised its position in Waters by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC now owns 658 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in Waters by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 744 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

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.