iA Global Asset Management Inc. Increases Holdings in Waters Corporation $WAT

iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 825.1% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 16,097 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,357 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Waters were worth $6,037,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Waters by 27.0% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,638,772 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $488,028,000 after purchasing an additional 348,379 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Waters by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,593,388 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $602,921,000 after purchasing an additional 8,590 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Waters by 32.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,472,419 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $441,446,000 after buying an additional 359,596 shares in the last quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP increased its position in shares of Waters by 112.3% in the fourth quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 1,241,206 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $471,447,000 after buying an additional 656,436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waters by 17.0% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,019,289 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $303,556,000 after buying an additional 148,320 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Waters

In other news, Director Christopher A. Kuebler sold 3,626 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.94, for a total transaction of $1,442,930.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 17,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,086,515.52. This represents a 16.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WAT shares. UBS Group upped their target price on Waters from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler began coverage on Waters in a report on Thursday, June 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Waters from $380.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Waters from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Waters from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $420.35.

Waters Price Performance

WAT stock opened at $414.90 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Waters Corporation has a 52-week low of $282.77 and a 52-week high of $420.26. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $376.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $345.85.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.01 by $0.04. Waters had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 3.58%.The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 113.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Waters has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.950-4.050 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 14.450-14.650 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Waters Corporation will post 14.57 EPS for the current 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.