Waters (NYSE:WAT) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Bank of America Analyst Says

Waters (NYSE:WAT) had its price objective hoisted by stock analysts at Bank of America from $400.00 to $430.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target points to a potential upside of 13.68% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on WAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Cfra set a $389.00 target price on shares of Waters in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Waters has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $375.85.

Waters Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Waters stock opened at $378.26 on Friday. Waters has a 52-week low of $279.24 and a 52-week high of $397.02. The company has a 50 day moving average of $366.04 and a 200 day moving average of $336.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $22.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.09, a P/E/G ratio of 6.92 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Institutional Trading of Waters

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in Waters by 96.8% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 868 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 427 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in Waters by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 26,234 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $7,611,000 after acquiring an additional 2,086 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 21.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 448,304 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $130,053,000 after purchasing an additional 77,951 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waters during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,944,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Waters by 71.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 140,992 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $50,742,000 after purchasing an additional 58,983 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

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.