Waters (NYSE:WAT) Stock Bumped Down to "Hold" by Wall Street Zen

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

WAT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Waters in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group raised Waters from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $375.00 to $490.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. HSBC upped their price target on Waters from $450.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Waters from $435.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on Waters from $440.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $475.48.

Waters Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of WAT opened at $460.19 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $440.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $374.12. Waters has a 12-month low of $282.77 and a 12-month high of $483.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $45.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 197.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.16.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.00 by $0.10. Waters had a net margin of 1.75% and a return on equity of 9.91%. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.40 earnings per share. Waters's revenue was up 120.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Waters will post 14.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waters

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pilgrim Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waters during the 2nd quarter worth $466,131,171,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waters in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,182,191,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,418,204 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,941,315,000 after purchasing an additional 36,196 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 2,015.3% in the 3rd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 2,921,255 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,283,570,000 after purchasing an additional 2,783,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waters in the second quarter valued at about $623,921,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company's stock.

Waters Company Profile

Waters Corporation develops and supplies analytical instruments, software, and consumables used to identify, measure, and characterize chemical and biological materials. Its products include liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry systems, which help customers analyze complex samples. The company serves pharmaceutical and biotechnology businesses, academic and government laboratories, and customers in fields such as food, environmental testing, and materials science. Waters operates internationally, with customers and operations across multiple regions.

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