Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Receives $327.00 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $335.64.

WAT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Waters in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $380.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen raised their target price on Waters from $325.00 to $363.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Leerink Partners upgraded Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Waters to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of WAT opened at $352.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market cap of $20.93 billion, a PE ratio of 35.11, a P/E/G ratio of 7.01 and a beta of 0.95. Waters has a 12 month low of $231.90 and a 12 month high of $367.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $339.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $324.71.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.08. Waters had a return on equity of 56.81% and a net margin of 20.71%. The business had revenue of $709.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $700.09 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.80 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Waters will post 11.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waters

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Foguth Wealth Management LLC. acquired a new position in Waters in the 1st quarter worth about $2,773,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waters in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $962,000. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in shares of Waters by 2,134.3% during the 1st quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 5,921 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,038,000 after buying an additional 5,656 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waters by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,837,662 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,251,163,000 after buying an additional 64,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in Waters by 223.8% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,222 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,707,000 after acquiring an additional 5,683 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.