Waters (NYSE:WAT) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $426.22 and last traded at $422.1720, with a volume of 72180 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $414.17.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WAT has been the topic of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Waters in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Waters from $435.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Waters from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on Waters from $425.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Waters from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $400.00 to $480.00 in a report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $424.35.

Waters Stock Down 1.6%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $387.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $348.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 103.38, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.19.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.01 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. Waters had a net margin of 3.58% and a return on equity of 11.27%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 113.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. Waters has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.950-4.050 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 14.450-14.650 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Waters Corporation will post 14.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waters news, Director Christopher A. Kuebler sold 3,626 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.94, for a total value of $1,442,930.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 17,808 shares in the company, valued at $7,086,515.52. This trade 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 is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waters

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WAT. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 35,116.4% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 54,254,036 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $20,347,434,000 after buying an additional 54,099,977 shares during the last quarter. Pilgrim Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Waters during the second quarter worth $466,131,171,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Waters during the second quarter worth $3,182,191,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in Waters during the second quarter worth $623,921,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Waters during the fourth quarter worth $265,751,000. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

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.