Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Receives $365.85 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $365.85.

WAT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Cfra set a $389.00 price target on Waters in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Waters from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waters

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WAT. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 70.7% during 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 buying an additional 271,804 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in Waters by 34.4% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Waters by 21.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 448,304 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $130,053,000 after purchasing an additional 77,951 shares during the period. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Waters by 3,627.0% in the 3rd quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 68,987 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $24,828,000 after purchasing an additional 67,136 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Waters by 71.9% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 140,992 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $50,742,000 after purchasing an additional 58,983 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waters Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of WAT opened at $378.48 on Friday. Waters has a 1-year low of $273.60 and a 1-year high of $393.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.11, a PEG ratio of 6.83 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $355.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $332.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. Waters had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 21.43%. The business had revenue of $740.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $712.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.84 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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.