Wall Street Zen Upgrades Waters (NYSE:WAT) to Buy

Waters (NYSE:WAT) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on WAT. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Waters and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays lowered their price target on Waters from $400.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Bank of America dropped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Waters from $355.00 to $374.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $390.19.

Waters Price Performance

WAT opened at $346.59 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $344.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $370.55. The firm has a market cap of $20.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.36, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.14. Waters has a 1 year low of $279.24 and a 1 year high of $423.56.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.03. Waters had a net margin of 21.56% and a return on equity of 46.31%. The firm had revenue of $661.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $655.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Waters will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Waters by 2.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,272,252 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,680,334,000 after purchasing an additional 173,584 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,084,555 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Waters by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,070,671 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,131,757,000 after buying an additional 416,669 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Waters by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,066,482 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $761,643,000 after buying an additional 123,215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 34,762 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.