Waters (NYSE:WAT) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Waters (NYSE:WAT) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waters in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Waters from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Rothschild Redb raised shares of Waters to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. William Blair began coverage on shares of Waters in a report on Monday, January 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Waters to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waters presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.61.

Waters Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of Waters stock opened at $370.47 on Friday. Waters has a fifty-two week low of $275.05 and a fifty-two week high of $423.00. The business’s fifty day moving average is $390.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $343.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market cap of $22.06 billion, a PE ratio of 34.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.16.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.21 by $0.19. Waters had a return on equity of 36.59% and a net margin of 20.89%.The firm had revenue of $799.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $780.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Waters has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.050-13.150 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 4.450-4.550 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Waters will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Waters by 12.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 8,021 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,800,000 after acquiring an additional 896 shares in the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waters by 41.9% during the third quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 13,802 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $4,138,000 after purchasing an additional 4,077 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Waters by 5.0% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 126,070 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $44,004,000 after purchasing an additional 5,980 shares in the last quarter. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Waters by 46.4% during the third quarter. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC now owns 7,793 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,336,000 after purchasing an additional 2,471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Waters in the third quarter valued at $1,624,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Company Profile

Waters Corporation is a global provider of analytical instruments, software and services for laboratory and research applications. The company designs, manufactures and sells technologies centered on liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, separation science, and related sample preparation and detection systems. Its product portfolio includes chromatographs, mass spectrometers, columns and consumables, laboratory informatics and workflow software, as well as technical support and training services that help customers run and interpret complex analyses.

Waters serves a wide range of end markets that include pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, contract research and testing laboratories, academic and government research institutions, clinical diagnostics, food and environmental testing, and industrial and chemical manufacturers.