Waters Corporation $WAT Shares Bought by Wealthfront Advisers LLC

Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its stake in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 47.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,778 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,176 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $2,574,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD acquired a new position in Waters during the third quarter worth approximately $1,397,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in Waters by 12.2% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 231,852 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $69,512,000 after buying an additional 25,182 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Waters by 543.8% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 37,244 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $14,146,000 after buying an additional 31,459 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Waters by 3.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,656,891 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,295,612,000 after buying an additional 246,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in Waters during the third quarter worth approximately $4,677,000. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Wei Jiang acquired 500 shares of Waters stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $289.46 per share, for a total transaction of $144,730.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 3,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,031.86. The trade was a 17.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WAT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Waters from $415.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Waters from $410.00 to $350.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Waters in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $425.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Waters from $370.00 to $330.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $440.00 price target on shares of Waters in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Waters has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $387.53.

Waters Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:WAT opened at $307.22 on Friday. Waters Corporation has a 12-month low of $275.05 and a 12-month high of $414.15. The stock has a market cap of $30.16 billion, a PE ratio of 28.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50 day moving average of $309.75 and a 200-day moving average of $351.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 9th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.50 by $0.03. Waters had a return on equity of 34.79% and a net margin of 20.30%.The company had revenue of $932.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $928.17 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.10 earnings per share. The business’s 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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Waters Corporation will post 14.38 earnings per share for the current year.

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.