StockNews.com Upgrades Waters (NYSE:WAT) to “Buy”

Waters (NYSE:WAT) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Scotiabank raised Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $390.40.

Waters Price Performance

WAT traded down $9.40 on Monday, reaching $369.71. The company had a trading volume of 471,600 shares, compared to its average volume of 408,327. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 2.02. Waters has a 52-week low of $279.24 and a 52-week high of $423.56. The company has a market cap of $21.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.28, a P/E/G ratio of 7.37 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $389.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $364.87.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 21.43%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waters will post 11.79 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waters

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WAT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waters by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,098,668 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,633,464,000 after purchasing an additional 19,456 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Waters by 106,144.4% in the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 3,087,461 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,145,386,000 after buying an additional 3,084,555 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Waters by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,654,002 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $984,582,000 after buying an additional 212,364 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Waters by 1.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,577,733 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $927,700,000 after acquiring an additional 49,194 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Waters by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,451,445 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $537,053,000 after acquiring an additional 34,762 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.