Waters (NYSE:WAT) Price Target Raised to $415.00

Waters (NYSE:WAT) had its price objective increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $380.00 to $415.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on WAT. Leerink Partners raised Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Waters to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Waters from $325.00 to $363.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Cfra set a $389.00 target price on Waters in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $365.85.

Waters Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of WAT opened at $386.59 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $344.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $326.73. Waters has a 12-month low of $241.95 and a 12-month high of $393.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.90, a P/E/G ratio of 7.50 and a beta of 0.97.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $712.99 million. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The business’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.84 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Waters will post 11.67 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Waters

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Waters by 70.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 656,019 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $236,095,000 after purchasing an additional 271,804 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Waters by 34.4% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 393,890 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $141,757,000 after purchasing an additional 100,811 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Waters by 21.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 448,304 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $130,053,000 after buying an additional 77,951 shares during the last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Waters by 3,627.0% in the third quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 68,987 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $24,828,000 after buying an additional 67,136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Waters by 71.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 140,992 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $50,742,000 after buying an additional 58,983 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Company Profile

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.