Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $365.85.

A number of analysts have weighed in on WAT shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Cfra set a $389.00 target price on Waters in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th.

Institutional Trading of Waters

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Waters in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Waters in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waters by 190.2% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 119 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Waters during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. increased its holdings in Waters by 19,900.0% in the 2nd quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 200 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE WAT opened at $373.47 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.18 billion, a PE ratio of 35.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.31 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $354.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $331.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Waters has a 12 month low of $273.60 and a 12 month high of $393.38.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $712.99 million. Waters had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 21.43%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.84 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Waters will post 11.79 EPS for the current 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.