Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT – Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,620,000 shares, an increase of 24.6% from the February 13th total of 1,300,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 470,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days. Approximately 2.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.
Waters Price Performance
Waters stock traded up $1.50 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $378.65. The company had a trading volume of 359,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 437,361. Waters has a 12-month low of $279.24 and a 12-month high of $423.56. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $391.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $370.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $22.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.00.
Waters (NYSE:WAT – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.02 by $0.08. Waters had a return on equity of 46.31% and a net margin of 21.56%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Waters will post 12.86 EPS for the current year.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waters
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research analysts recently issued reports on WAT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. StockNews.com lowered Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank upgraded Waters from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $430.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Waters from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $430.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Waters from $415.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $391.07.
Get Our Latest Research Report on Waters
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.
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