Groupe la Francaise Purchases New Position in Waters Corporation $WAT

Groupe la Francaise purchased a new position in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 31,009 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $9,206,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Waters in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $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 buying an additional 656,436 shares in the last quarter. 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 buying an additional 561,047 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Waters by 1,611.3% in 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, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Waters by 2,281.7% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 538,713 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $204,619,000 after acquiring an additional 516,094 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Waters in a report on Friday, June 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $435.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Waters from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Waters in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Waters in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Waters from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $401.60.

Waters Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of WAT stock opened at $381.12 on Friday. Waters Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $275.05 and a fifty-two week high of $414.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $368.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $345.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.43, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.20.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Waters had a net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 91.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $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. Research analysts expect that Waters Corporation will post 14.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.