Waters (NYSE:WAT) had its target price lifted by investment analysts at Barclays from $202.00 to $208.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. Barclays’ price target would suggest a potential downside of 1.42% from the company’s previous close.
Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott lifted their target price on shares of Waters from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Waters from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Waters from $219.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Waters from $190.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Waters in a research report on Tuesday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $203.75.
Waters (NYSE:WAT) traded down $3.78 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $210.99. 1,038,500 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 532,473. The company has a current ratio of 6.16, a quick ratio of 5.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Waters has a twelve month low of $137.72 and a twelve month high of $218.72. The firm has a market cap of $16,780.00, a P/E ratio of 1,172.17, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.82.
In other news, SVP Rohit Khanna sold 26,913 shares of Waters stock in a transaction on Friday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.93, for a total value of $5,326,890.09. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,677 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,707,088.61. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joann A. Reed sold 1,386 shares of Waters stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.07, for a total transaction of $268,981.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,159 shares of company stock valued at $18,412,172 in the last quarter. 5.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WAT. Profund Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Waters by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 3,575 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $657,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waters by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,998 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,654,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Waters by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 9,745 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,792,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its stake in shares of Waters by 290.5% in the 2nd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 5,428 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $998,000 after acquiring an additional 4,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Waters by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,165,827 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $214,326,000 after acquiring an additional 79,824 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.18% of the company’s stock.
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About Waters
Waters Corporation is an analytical instrument manufacturer. The Company operates through two segments: Waters and TA. It designs, manufactures, sells and services high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLC and together with HPLC, referred to as LC) and mass spectrometry (MS) technology systems and support products, including chromatography columns, other consumable products and post-warranty service plans.
