Waters (NYSE:WAT) Trading Down 8.6% – What’s Next?

Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT)’s stock price traded down 8.6% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $302.04 and last traded at $305.5350. 127,226 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 1,028,465 shares. The stock had previously closed at $334.38.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Waters in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $425.00 target price for the company. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Waters in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $460.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waters in a research report on Monday. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on shares of Waters in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Waters in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Waters has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $387.53.

Waters Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The business’s 50 day moving average is $312.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $352.90. The company has a market cap of $30.40 billion, a PE ratio of 28.75, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.20.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.50 by $0.03. Waters had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 34.79%. The company had revenue of $932.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $928.17 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.10 EPS. Waters’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Waters has set its FY 2026 guidance at 14.300-14.500 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 2.250-2.350 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Waters Corporation will post 14.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waters

In other news, Director Wei Jiang bought 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $289.46 per share, for a total transaction of $144,730.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 3,441 shares in the company, valued at $996,031.86. This represents a 17.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Waters by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,656,891 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,295,612,000 after purchasing an additional 246,128 shares in the last quarter. Fundsmith LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fundsmith LLP now owns 3,955,498 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,185,898,000 after acquiring an additional 347,091 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 44.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,689,693 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $806,397,000 after acquiring an additional 825,723 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,593,388 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $602,921,000 after acquiring an additional 8,590 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 225.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,551,010 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $465,008,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074,449 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

About Waters

Waters Corporation is a global provider of analytical instruments, software and services for laboratory and research applications. The company designs, manufactures and sells technologies centered on liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, separation science, and related sample preparation and detection systems. Its product portfolio includes chromatographs, mass spectrometers, columns and consumables, laboratory informatics and workflow software, as well as technical support and training services that help customers run and interpret complex analyses.

Waters serves a wide range of end markets that include pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, contract research and testing laboratories, academic and government research institutions, clinical diagnostics, food and environmental testing, and industrial and chemical manufacturers.