Barclays Cuts Waters (NYSE:WAT) Price Target to $295.00

Waters (NYSE:WAT) had its target price dropped by research analysts at Barclays from $300.00 to $295.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective points to a potential downside of 9.30% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on WAT. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Waters from $330.00 to $332.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Waters from $319.00 to $312.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Waters from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Waters from $350.00 to $358.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $306.70.

Waters Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Waters stock traded down $0.80 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $325.26. The stock had a trading volume of 183,941 shares, compared to its average volume of 417,673. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The company has a market capitalization of $19.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.01, a P/E/G ratio of 6.39 and a beta of 0.98. Waters has a 52 week low of $231.90 and a 52 week high of $363.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $333.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $310.76.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.11. Waters had a return on equity of 81.30% and a net margin of 21.72%. The firm had revenue of $636.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $635.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.49 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Waters will post 11.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Waters

In other Waters news, Director Linda Baddour sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.54, for a total transaction of $177,770.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $799,965. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bleakley Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Waters in the 1st quarter valued at $204,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 42,300 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $14,566,000 after purchasing an additional 1,210 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 35,028 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $12,057,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. acquired a new position in Waters during the 1st quarter worth approximately $207,000. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD lifted its stake in Waters by 109.1% in the 1st quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 4,557 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,569,000 after purchasing an additional 2,378 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

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.