Novem Group Buys Shares of 2,703 Waters Corporation $WAT

Novem Group bought a new stake in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 2,703 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,027,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Waters by 112.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,269 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $471,000 after buying an additional 673 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,048 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $386,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 200,051 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $73,733,000 after buying an additional 6,976 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 16.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,126 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $415,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waters during the 2nd quarter valued at $232,000. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Waters from $370.00 to $330.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. William Blair initiated coverage on Waters in a research note on Monday, January 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Bank of America dropped their target price on Waters from $410.00 to $350.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Barclays began coverage on Waters in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waters in a report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $387.53.

Waters Stock Up 0.1%

WAT stock opened at $335.79 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Waters Corporation has a 1 year low of $275.05 and a 1 year high of $414.15. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $312.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $353.02. The firm has a market cap of $32.96 billion, a PE ratio of 31.18, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.20.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.50 by $0.03. Waters had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 34.79%. The firm had revenue of $932.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $928.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.10 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue 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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Waters Corporation will post 14.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Wei Jiang acquired 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $289.46 per share, with a total value of $144,730.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 3,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,031.86. The trade was a 17.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

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.