Waters (NYSE:WAT) Price Target Lowered to $410.00 at Bank of America

Waters (NYSE:WAT) had its target price cut by equities research analysts at Bank of America from $430.00 to $410.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 7.20% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on WAT. Barclays upgraded 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 research note on Monday. Cfra set a $389.00 price objective on shares of Waters in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $332.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Waters in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $430.00 price target for the company. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waters presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $387.21.

Waters Stock Down 5.6 %

Waters stock opened at $382.45 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $390.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $363.86. 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 twelve month low of $279.24 and a twelve month high of $423.56. The firm has a market cap of $22.71 billion, a PE ratio of 36.49, a P/E/G ratio of 7.37 and a beta of 1.01.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Waters will post 11.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Waters

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WAT. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its position in Waters by 106,144.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 3,087,461 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,145,386,000 after buying an additional 3,084,555 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Waters in the fourth quarter worth about $284,415,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waters during the fourth quarter worth approximately $104,645,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waters by 70.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 656,019 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $236,095,000 after purchasing an additional 271,804 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Waters by 8.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 212,364 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

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.