Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Analysts

Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) has received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and seven have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $298.67.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WAT shares. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Waters from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of WAT stock opened at $313.72 on Friday. Waters has a 12 month low of $231.90 and a 12 month high of $363.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.91, a P/E/G ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $337.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $305.47.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.56 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $819.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $815.50 million. Waters had a net margin of 21.72% and a return on equity of 81.30%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.84 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Waters will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.54, for a total value of $177,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $799,965. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Waters

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Waters by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,837,662 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,251,163,000 after purchasing an additional 64,525 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Waters by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,520,629 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $965,392,000 after acquiring an additional 48,740 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Waters by 37.2% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,018,487 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $538,008,000 after acquiring an additional 547,777 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Waters by 79.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,504,592 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $467,011,000 after acquiring an additional 666,851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Waters by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,229,235 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $379,738,000 after acquiring an additional 32,360 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is 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.