Waters (NYSE:WAT) Upgraded by Baird R W to Strong-Buy Rating

Waters (NYSE:WAT) was upgraded by equities researchers at Baird R W from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays upgraded Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $360.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waters currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.40.

Waters Stock Down 0.3 %

Waters stock opened at $367.40 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $388.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $372.10. The stock has a market cap of $21.83 billion, a PE ratio of 34.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. Waters has a 1-year low of $279.24 and a 1-year high of $423.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a return on equity of 46.31% and a net margin of 21.56%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Waters will post 12.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Waters

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in Waters by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,587 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,331,000 after buying an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Waters by 34.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 159,995 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $57,579,000 after acquiring an additional 41,339 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $632,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in Waters by 13.2% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,578 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $928,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in Waters by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 421,691 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $156,439,000 after purchasing an additional 27,801 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.