Waters (NYSE:WAT) Releases FY24 Earnings Guidance

Waters (NYSE:WAT) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $11.55-$11.65 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.78. Waters also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 11.550-11.650 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Waters in a report on Monday, June 3rd. They set a hold rating and a $320.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $332.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Waters from $319.00 to $312.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $325.00 to $363.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $310.58.

Waters Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE WAT traded down $6.87 on Friday, hitting $345.66. 696,557 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 446,807. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 2.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $303.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $321.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.92, a P/E/G ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 0.95. Waters has a 52-week low of $231.90 and a 52-week high of $367.21.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $709.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $700.09 million. Waters had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 56.81%. Waters’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.80 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Waters will post 11.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Christopher A. Kuebler sold 4,000 shares of Waters stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.64, for a total value of $1,446,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,716 shares in the company, valued at $5,321,894.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Waters news, Director Christopher A. Kuebler sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.64, for a total value of $1,446,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,716 shares in the company, valued at $5,321,894.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard H. Fearon acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $332.90 per share, for a total transaction of $332,900.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 1,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $550,283.70. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.82% 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.