Waters (NYSE:WAT) Price Target Cut to $300.00

Waters (NYSE:WAT) had its price target lowered by Evercore ISI from $320.00 to $300.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “in-line” rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. Evercore ISI’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 5.83% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on WAT. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $332.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Waters from $350.00 to $358.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Waters from $319.00 to $312.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Waters in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $320.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Waters from $295.00 to $275.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $301.20.

Waters Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of WAT stock traded up $0.77 on Tuesday, hitting $283.47. The stock had a trading volume of 92,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 452,270. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.86, a P/E/G ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $316.26 and its 200-day moving average is $323.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.94. Waters has a 52-week low of $231.90 and a 52-week high of $367.21.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $636.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $635.57 million. Waters had a net margin of 20.75% and a return on equity of 66.59%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.49 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Waters will post 11.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waters news, Director Richard H. Fearon bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $332.90 per share, for a total transaction of $332,900.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $550,283.70. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Richard H. Fearon bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $332.90 per share, for a total transaction of $332,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $550,283.70. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Christopher A. Kuebler sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.64, for a total transaction of $1,446,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,321,894.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WAT. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Waters by 310.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,635 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,596,000 after purchasing an additional 3,505 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Waters in the first quarter worth approximately $10,106,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Waters by 61.6% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 6,584 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,509 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Waters by 0.5% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 94,092 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $32,389,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in Waters by 29.4% during the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,712 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $589,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.