Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Receives $365.85 Average Price Target from Analysts

Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have given a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $365.85.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $355.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Cfra set a $389.00 price target on shares of Waters in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Leerink Partners raised shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Waters from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st.

Waters Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:WAT opened at $386.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market cap of $22.95 billion, a PE ratio of 36.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.92 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a 50-day moving average of $356.22 and a 200 day moving average of $332.60. Waters has a 1-year low of $273.60 and a 1-year high of $395.44.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WAT. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Waters during the first quarter valued at approximately $10,106,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in Waters by 96.8% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 868 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Waters by 61.6% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 6,584 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,509 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 8.6% during the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 26,234 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $7,611,000 after buying an additional 2,086 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 21.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 448,304 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $130,053,000 after buying an additional 77,951 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

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.