Analysts Set Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Price Target at $384.71

Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $384.71.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WAT. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Waters from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Cfra set a $389.00 price target on Waters in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Waters from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waters

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WAT. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,577,733 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $927,700,000 after purchasing an additional 49,194 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Waters by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,416,683 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $508,123,000 after acquiring an additional 16,703 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 885,593 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $318,717,000 after acquiring an additional 6,256 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Waters by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 659,539 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $219,811,000 after acquiring an additional 6,647 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $236,095,000 after purchasing an additional 271,804 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waters Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:WAT opened at $403.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 2.02. Waters has a 52-week low of $279.24 and a 52-week high of $411.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.54, a P/E/G ratio of 6.66 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $378.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $350.18.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $740.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $712.99 million. Waters had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 21.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Waters will post 11.79 EPS for the current fiscal 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.