Waters (NYSE:WAT) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Wolfe Research

Waters (NYSE:WAT) was upgraded by research analysts at Wolfe Research to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on WAT. UBS Group lifted their price objective 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. Citigroup assumed coverage on Waters in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $425.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised their price target on Waters from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Waters from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $395.71.

Waters Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE WAT opened at $371.90 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $325.28 and its 200-day moving average is $350.93. Waters has a one year low of $275.05 and a one year high of $414.15. The firm has a market cap of $36.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.21.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.39. The firm 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $2.25 EPS. Waters has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.050 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 14.400-14.600 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Waters will post 14.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Waters news, Director Wei Jiang purchased 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $289.46 per share, for a total transaction of $144,730.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 3,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,031.86. This trade represents a 17.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD bought a new stake in shares of Waters during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,397,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Waters by 543.8% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 37,244 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $14,146,000 after acquiring an additional 31,459 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Waters by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 231,852 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $69,512,000 after purchasing an additional 25,182 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Waters by 3.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,656,891 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,295,612,000 after purchasing an additional 246,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new stake in Waters in the third quarter worth $4,677,000. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.