Waters (NYSE:WAT) Price Target Raised to $355.00

Waters (NYSE:WAT) had its target price boosted by research analysts at Evercore ISI from $335.00 to $355.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “in-line” rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price target indicates a potential downside of 0.67% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on WAT. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Waters to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Waters in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $380.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $327.00.

Waters Stock Performance

NYSE:WAT traded down $2.50 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $357.39. The stock had a trading volume of 147,304 shares, compared to its average volume of 425,804. Waters has a twelve month low of $231.90 and a twelve month high of $367.21. The stock has a market cap of $21.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.97, a PEG ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 0.95. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $334.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $324.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 2.10.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 56.81%. The business had revenue of $709.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $700.09 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.80 EPS. Waters’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Waters will post 11.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waters

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Foguth Wealth Management LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Waters during the first quarter worth $2,773,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waters during the fourth quarter worth $962,000. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 2,134.3% during the first quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 5,921 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,038,000 after purchasing an additional 5,656 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,837,662 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,251,163,000 after purchasing an additional 64,525 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 223.8% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,222 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,707,000 after purchasing an additional 5,683 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

About Waters

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.