Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Short Interest Down 18.8% in February

Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,300,000 shares, a drop of 18.8% from the January 31st total of 1,600,000 shares. Approximately 2.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 473,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Waters Stock Down 1.6 %

WAT opened at $371.40 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.01. Waters has a one year low of $279.24 and a one year high of $423.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $390.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $367.93. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a return on equity of 46.31% and a net margin of 21.56%. Equities research analysts expect that Waters will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waters

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Waters by 106,144.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 3,087,461 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,145,386,000 after buying an additional 3,084,555 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Waters in the fourth quarter valued at $284,415,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Waters by 3,349.7% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 304,404 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $112,928,000 after purchasing an additional 295,580 shares in the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Waters during the fourth quarter worth about $104,645,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WAT. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $390.40.

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.