Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Lowers Position in Waters Corporation $WAT

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp cut its position in shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 42.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,108 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 23,539 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Waters were worth $9,626,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 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 worth $386,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Waters by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 630 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $189,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Waters by 13.1% during the second quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 327 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Waters by 1.8% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,264 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $679,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CW Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Waters by 2.0% in the second quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 2,112 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $737,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WAT. Rothschild Redb raised Waters to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Guggenheim initiated coverage on shares of Waters in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $440.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Waters from $385.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Waters from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waters in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $398.61.

Waters Price Performance

WAT stock opened at $384.61 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $390.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $342.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.90 billion, a PE ratio of 35.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Waters Corporation has a 1 year low of $275.05 and a 1 year high of $423.56.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.21 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $799.89 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $780.05 million. Waters had a return on equity of 36.59% and a net margin of 20.89%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. Waters has set its FY 2025 guidance at 13.050-13.150 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 4.450-4.550 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Waters Corporation will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waters 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.