Liontrust Investment Partners LLP Has $89 Million Holdings in Waters Corporation $WAT

Liontrust Investment Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 5,156.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 298,855 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 293,169 shares during the period. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP owned about 0.30% of Waters worth $88,999,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WAT. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waters during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Resources Management Corp CT ADV bought a new position in shares of Waters during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT raised its position in Waters by 121.2% in the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 73 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Vision Retirement LLC acquired a new stake in Waters in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Bollard Group LLC bought a new stake in Waters in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WAT shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Waters from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waters in a report on Friday, July 17th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Waters in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $400.00 target price for the company. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $440.00 price target on shares of Waters in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $401.60.

Waters Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE:WAT opened at $381.12 on Friday. Waters Corporation has a twelve month low of $275.05 and a twelve month high of $414.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $368.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $345.25.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.39. Waters had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 11.91%.The company had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 91.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Waters has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.050 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 14.400-14.600 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Waters Corporation will post 14.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waters Company Profile

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.