Waters (NYSE:WAT) Price Target Raised to $390.00

Waters (NYSE:WAT) had its price objective hoisted by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $380.00 to $390.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 0.66% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on WAT. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $391.07.

Waters Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE WAT traded up $8.56 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $387.45. The company had a trading volume of 152,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 435,935. Waters has a 52-week low of $279.24 and a 52-week high of $423.56. The stock has a market cap of $23.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.25, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $389.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $368.13.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a return on equity of 46.31% and a net margin of 21.56%. Sell-side analysts predict that Waters will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waters

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Waters by 0.3% during the 4th 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 106,144.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,084,555 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Waters by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,654,002 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $984,582,000 after acquiring an additional 212,364 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position 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 worth $927,700,000 after purchasing an additional 49,194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 worth $537,053,000 after purchasing an additional 34,762 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

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.