Waters (NYSE:WAT) Upgraded at Scotiabank

Scotiabank upgraded shares of Waters (NYSE:WAT) from a sector perform rating to a sector outperform rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Scotiabank currently has $450.00 price target on the medical instruments supplier’s stock, up from their previous price target of $430.00.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays raised shares of Waters from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $360.00 to $415.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America cut their target price on Waters from $430.00 to $410.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Cfra set a $389.00 price objective on Waters in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Ten investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $390.40.

Waters Price Performance

NYSE:WAT opened at $369.71 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 2.02. The firm has a market cap of $21.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.28, a P/E/G ratio of 7.37 and a beta of 1.01. Waters has a 52 week low of $279.24 and a 52 week high of $423.56. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $389.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $364.55.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a return on equity of 49.93% and a net margin of 21.43%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Waters will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waters

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAT. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Waters by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 159,995 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $57,579,000 after buying an additional 41,339 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Waters by 71.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 140,992 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $50,742,000 after purchasing an additional 58,983 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 13.2% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,578 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $928,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of Waters by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 12,874 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,776,000 after purchasing an additional 782 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Waters by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 421,691 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $156,439,000 after buying an additional 27,801 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by 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.