Waters (NYSE:WAT) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Waters (NYSE:WAT) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.00 by $0.10, Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. Waters had a net margin of 3.58% and a return on equity of 11.27%.

Waters Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of NYSE WAT opened at $449.12 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $44.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 112.00, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.16. Waters has a 12 month low of $282.77 and a 12 month high of $482.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $431.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $370.83.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WAT. Evercore upped their price target on shares of Waters from $410.00 to $480.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Waters from $460.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $440.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Waters from $465.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Waters from $435.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $457.50.

Insider Activity at Waters

In other news, Director Christopher Kuebler sold 3,626 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.94, for a total value of $1,442,930.44. Following the sale, the director directly owned 17,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,086,515.52. This trade represents a 16.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

About Waters

Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) develops and manufactures analytical technologies used to measure, identify and characterize chemical and biological substances. Its customers include pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, industrial manufacturers, academic and government laboratories, and organizations involved in food, environmental and clinical testing.

The company’s product portfolio includes high-performance liquid chromatography and ultra-performance liquid chromatography systems, mass spectrometers, chromatography columns and consumables, and laboratory software for data management and analysis.