Brokerages Set Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) PT at $397.40

Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $397.40.

WAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Baird R W raised Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waters

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Waters by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,587 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,331,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 34.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 159,995 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $57,579,000 after buying an additional 41,339 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $632,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Waters by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,578 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $928,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in Waters by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 421,691 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $156,439,000 after purchasing an additional 27,801 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of Waters stock opened at $361.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $21.48 billion, a PE ratio of 33.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. Waters has a 1 year low of $279.24 and a 1 year high of $423.56. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $387.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $372.92.

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

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.