JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Waters (NYSE:WAT) Price Target to $390.00

Waters (NYSE:WAT) had its target price lifted by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $380.00 to $390.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price would indicate a potential downside of 0.60% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on WAT. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank raised shares of Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $360.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $391.07.

Waters Stock Performance

Waters stock opened at $392.34 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $390.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $368.33. The company has a market cap of $23.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $279.24 and a fifty-two week high of $423.56.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 21.56% and a return on equity of 46.31%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Waters will post 12.86 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Waters

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisory Alpha LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 1,065 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 2.4% in the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 1,198 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Waters by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 966 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in Waters by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 9,610 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,565,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Waters by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 851 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.