Waters - WAT Stock Forecast, Price & News

Waters Corporation, a specialty measurement company, 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. It also designs, manufactures, sells, and services thermal analysis, rheometry, and calorimetry instruments; and develops and supplies software-based products that interface with its instruments, as well as other manufacturers' instruments. Its MS technology instruments are used in drug discovery and development comprising clinical trial testing, the analysis of proteins in disease processes, nutritional safety analysis, and environmental testing. The company offers thermal analysis, rheometry, and calorimetry instruments for use in predicting the suitability and stability of fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals, water, polymers, metals, and viscous liquids for various industrial, consumer good, and healthcare products, as well as for life science research. Its products are used by life science, pharmaceutical, biochemical, industrial, nutritional safety, environmental, academic, and governmental customers working in research and development, quality assurance, and other laboratory applications. Waters Corporation was founded in 1958 and is headquartered in Milford, Massachusetts.

Waters Stock Performance

Waters stock opened at $337.87 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $20.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.48, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.81. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $334.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $323.33. Waters has a fifty-two week low of $288.32 and a fifty-two week high of $428.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.85, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 2nd. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.63 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $714.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $706.77 million. Waters had a net margin of 24.21% and a return on equity of 203.31%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Waters will post 12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays began coverage on shares of Waters in a research note on Tuesday, May 17th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $375.00 target price for the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Waters from $349.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Waters from $340.00 to $348.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Waters from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $320.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Monday, April 25th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Waters from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $320.00 to $330.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $350.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waters

In other Waters news, Director Christopher A. Kuebler sold 4,000 shares of Waters stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.78, for a total transaction of $1,315,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,064 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,623,961.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.77% of the company's stock.