Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) Short Interest Up 24.6% in February

Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,620,000 shares, an increase of 24.6% from the February 13th total of 1,300,000 shares. Approximately 2.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 470,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Waters Stock Up 0.8 %

WAT stock opened at $381.99 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $391.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $370.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.67, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00. Waters has a fifty-two week low of $279.24 and a fifty-two week high of $423.56. 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 (NYSE:WAT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a net margin of 21.56% and a return on equity of 46.31%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Waters will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Waters by 34.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 159,995 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $57,579,000 after purchasing an additional 41,339 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC raised its stake in Waters by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $632,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in Waters by 71.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 140,992 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $50,742,000 after purchasing an additional 58,983 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in Waters by 13.2% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,578 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $928,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in Waters by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 421,691 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $156,439,000 after purchasing an additional 27,801 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Waters from $405.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays raised Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $360.00 to $415.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waters has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $391.07.

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.