Janus Henderson Group PLC Sells 12,040 Shares of Waters Corporation $WAT

Janus Henderson Group PLC trimmed its stake in shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,290,393 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 12,040 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $490,130,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WAT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Waters during the 4th quarter valued at $265,751,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP lifted its position in shares of Waters by 112.3% during the 4th quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 1,241,206 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $471,447,000 after acquiring an additional 656,436 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Waters by 509.8% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 671,103 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $254,906,000 after acquiring an additional 561,047 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Waters by 1,611.3% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 581,063 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $220,705,000 after acquiring an additional 547,109 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Waters by 32.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,472,419 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $441,446,000 after acquiring an additional 359,596 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Waters Stock Performance

NYSE:WAT opened at $357.02 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $340.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $348.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.06 billion, a PE ratio of 45.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Waters Corporation has a twelve month low of $275.05 and a twelve month high of $414.15.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.70 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.25 earnings per share. Waters’s revenue 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. On average, analysts anticipate that Waters Corporation will post 14.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WAT. Robert W. Baird set a $387.00 target price on Waters in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Waters from $423.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Sunday, February 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Waters from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Waters from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Waters to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $394.56.

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.