UBS Group Issues Positive Forecast for Waters (NYSE:WAT) Stock Price

Waters (NYSE:WAT) had its target price boosted by analysts at UBS Group from $405.00 to $410.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. UBS Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 7.81% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on WAT. Cfra set a $389.00 target price on shares of Waters in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Waters from $363.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waters presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $390.07.

Waters Price Performance

WAT traded down $1.60 on Thursday, reaching $380.31. The company had a trading volume of 84,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 429,731. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $390.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $363.86. The company has a market cap of $22.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.29, a P/E/G ratio of 7.37 and a beta of 1.01. 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.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its 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 net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waters will post 11.79 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Waters

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Waters by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,098,668 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,633,464,000 after acquiring an additional 19,456 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Waters by 106,144.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 3,087,461 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,145,386,000 after acquiring an additional 3,084,555 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in Waters by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,654,002 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $984,582,000 after acquiring an additional 212,364 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Waters by 1.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Waters by 2.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

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.