Waters (NYSE:WAT) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $483.33 and last traded at $476.5990, with a volume of 23,231 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $475.52.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on WAT. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. HSBC lifted their price target on Waters from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Leerink Partners lifted their price target on Waters from $420.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Evercore boosted their price target on Waters from $410.00 to $480.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $470.00 price objective on Waters in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $475.48.

Waters Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $46.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 204.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a fifty day moving average of $437.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $373.01.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.00 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.75 billion. Waters had a return on equity of 9.91% and a net margin of 1.75%. Waters’s quarterly revenue was up 120.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Waters Corporation will post 14.65 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Waters

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pilgrim Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Waters in the 2nd quarter valued at about $466,131,171,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waters during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,182,191,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Waters by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,382,008 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,643,428,000 after purchasing an additional 19,998 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its holdings in Waters by 2,015.3% in the third quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 2,921,255 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,283,570,000 after buying an additional 2,783,151 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waters in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $623,921,000. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Waters

Waters Corporation develops and supplies analytical instruments, software, and consumables used to identify, measure, and characterize chemical and biological materials. Its products include liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry systems, which help customers analyze complex samples. The company serves pharmaceutical and biotechnology businesses, academic and government laboratories, and customers in fields such as food, environmental testing, and materials science. Waters operates internationally, with customers and operations across multiple regions.