Waters (NYSE:WAT) Shares Cross Above 200 Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Shares of Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $340.80 and traded as high as $373.70. Waters shares last traded at $370.94, with a volume of 204,488 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WAT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America raised their target price on Waters from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $355.00 to $415.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Cfra set a $389.00 price target on shares of Waters in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Waters from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $379.71.

Waters Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.40, a P/E/G ratio of 6.92 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $370.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $341.87.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.68 by $0.25. Waters had a net margin of 21.43% and a return on equity of 49.93%. The business had revenue of $740.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $712.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.84 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 11.79 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waters

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 96.8% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 868 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 427 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in Waters by 8.6% in the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 26,234 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $7,611,000 after acquiring an additional 2,086 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Waters by 21.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 448,304 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $130,053,000 after purchasing an additional 77,951 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waters during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,944,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Waters by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 159,995 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $57,579,000 after purchasing an additional 41,339 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.