Waters (NYSE:WAT) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Waters (NYSE:WAT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised Waters from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $375.00 to $490.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Waters in a report on Friday, June 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $435.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Waters from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Barclays raised their price objective on Waters from $460.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $408.00 to $475.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $441.68.

Waters Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE:WAT opened at $431.76 on Friday. Waters has a 12 month low of $282.77 and a 12 month high of $454.54. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $417.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $372.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $42.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.67, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.15.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.01 by $0.04. Waters had a net margin of 3.58% and a return on equity of 11.27%. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 113.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Waters has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.950-4.050 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 14.450-14.650 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Waters will post 14.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waters news, Director Christopher Kuebler sold 3,626 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.94, for a total value of $1,442,930.44. Following the sale, the director directly owned 17,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,086,515.52. This represents a 16.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waters

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WAT. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Waters in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. First Bancorp Inc ME purchased a new stake in Waters in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Caitlin John LLC raised its position in Waters by 43.9% in the second quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 82 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. SHP Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Waters in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Waters in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Company Profile

Waters Corporation (NYSE: WAT) develops and manufactures analytical workflow solutions used to measure, characterize and separate chemical and biological materials. Its customers include pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic and government laboratories, and organizations in the industrial, food, environmental and other applied markets.

The company’s portfolio includes high-performance liquid chromatography and ultra-performance liquid chromatography systems, mass spectrometry instruments, chromatography columns and other laboratory consumables.