Waters (NYSE:WAT) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.25 EPS

Waters (NYSE:WAT) posted its earnings results on Friday. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.25, Briefing.com reports. Waters had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 56.81%. The business had revenue of $740.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $712.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.84 EPS. Waters’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis.

Waters Trading Up 19.8 %

Shares of Waters stock traded up $64.10 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $387.21. 1,905,943 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 376,298. The company has a market cap of $22.98 billion, a PE ratio of 38.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.35 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $342.04 and a 200-day moving average of $325.20. Waters has a 12 month low of $241.40 and a 12 month high of $389.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 2.10.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WAT. Leerink Partners upgraded Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $325.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Leerink Partnrs raised Waters from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $355.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Waters from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Cfra set a $389.00 price objective on shares of Waters in a report on Thursday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $342.58.

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.