Waters (NYSE:WAT) Given “Outperform” Rating at Sanford C. Bernstein

Waters (NYSE:WAT)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Sanford C. Bernstein in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $435.00 price target on the medical instruments supplier’s stock. Sanford C. Bernstein’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 15.63% from the stock’s current price.

WAT has been the topic of several other research reports. Evercore raised Waters from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $387.00 target price on Waters in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays boosted 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $396.68.

Waters Trading Down 0.2%

WAT opened at $376.21 on Friday. Waters has a 52 week low of $275.05 and a 52 week high of $414.15. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $345.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $347.33. The company has a market capitalization of $36.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.96, a PEG ratio of 2.23 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 (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Waters had a net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 91.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.25 earnings per share. Waters has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.050 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 14.400-14.600 EPS. Analysts forecast that Waters will post 14.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waters

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its position in Waters by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 7,608 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,890,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,681 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $638,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 359 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $136,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its stake in Waters by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 616 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Avalon Trust Co lifted its stake in Waters by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 1,330 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $396,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.01% 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.