Wall Street Zen Upgrades Waters (NYSE:WAT) to “Buy”

Waters (NYSE:WAT) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

WAT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waters in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. HSBC started coverage on shares of Waters in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $460.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Waters in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn started coverage on Waters in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $390.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on Waters in a report on Monday, December 1st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $423.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.61.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of WAT stock opened at $370.47 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $390.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $343.38. The company has a market cap of $22.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.16. Waters has a 12-month low of $275.05 and a 12-month high of $423.00.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.21 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $799.89 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $780.05 million. Waters had a return on equity of 36.59% and a net margin of 20.89%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. Waters has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.050-13.150 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 4.450-4.550 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Waters will post 12.86 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WAT. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 12.6% during the second quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 8,021 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,800,000 after acquiring an additional 896 shares during the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in Waters by 41.9% in the 3rd quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 13,802 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,138,000 after purchasing an additional 4,077 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Waters by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 126,070 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $44,004,000 after purchasing an additional 5,980 shares in the last quarter. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 46.4% during the 3rd quarter. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC now owns 7,793 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,336,000 after purchasing an additional 2,471 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Waters during the third quarter worth about $1,624,000. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Waters

Waters Corporation is a global provider of analytical instruments, software and services for laboratory and research applications. The company designs, manufactures and sells technologies centered on liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, separation science, and related sample preparation and detection systems. Its product portfolio includes chromatographs, mass spectrometers, columns and consumables, laboratory informatics and workflow software, as well as technical support and training services that help customers run and interpret complex analyses.

Waters serves a wide range of end markets that include pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, contract research and testing laboratories, academic and government research institutions, clinical diagnostics, food and environmental testing, and industrial and chemical manufacturers.