Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $419.25 and last traded at $415.39, with a volume of 43083 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $414.44.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Waters from $340.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Waters from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $430.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on Waters from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $384.71.
View Our Latest Stock Report on WAT
Waters Stock Down 0.3 %
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 2.02. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $384.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $356.56. The company has a market capitalization of $24.52 billion, a PE ratio of 39.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.17 and a beta of 1.01.
Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $740.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $712.99 million. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Waters Co. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current year.
Institutional Trading of Waters
A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WAT. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waters by 70.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 656,019 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $236,095,000 after purchasing an additional 271,804 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in Waters by 34.4% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 393,890 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $141,757,000 after buying an additional 100,811 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Waters by 37.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 305,661 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $110,005,000 after buying an additional 82,865 shares in the last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 3,627.0% in the third quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 68,987 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $24,828,000 after acquiring an additional 67,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smith Group Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waters in the fourth quarter valued at $22,188,000. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Waters Company Profile
(
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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.
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