Waters (NYSE:WAT) Raised to “Buy” at Jefferies Financial Group

Waters (NYSE:WAT) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday, FinViz reports. The firm presently has a $415.00 price target on the medical instruments supplier’s stock, up from their previous price target of $355.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 18.60% from the stock’s previous close.

WAT has been the topic of several other reports. Leerink Partners raised Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $325.00 to $375.00 in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $310.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Waters has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $335.64.

Waters Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Waters stock opened at $349.92 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.76 billion, a PE ratio of 34.34, a P/E/G ratio of 6.93 and a beta of 0.95. Waters has a 1-year low of $231.90 and a 1-year high of $367.21. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $338.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $324.21.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $709.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $700.09 million. Waters had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 56.81%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.80 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Waters will post 11.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Waters

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Waters by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,879,316 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,368,067,000 after acquiring an additional 41,654 shares during the period. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 1.1% in the first quarter. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd now owns 1,110,898 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $382,404,000 after buying an additional 11,851 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Waters by 8.6% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 652,892 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $189,417,000 after acquiring an additional 51,853 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Waters by 21.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 448,304 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $130,053,000 after purchasing an additional 77,951 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 443,493 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $152,664,000 after purchasing an additional 18,274 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.