Waters (NYSE:WAT) Research Coverage Started at UBS Group

UBS Group started coverage on shares of Waters (NYSE:WAT) in a report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $490.00 price objective on the medical instruments supplier’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on WAT. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price objective on Waters in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Waters in a report on Friday, June 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $435.00 target price on the stock. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $420.00 target price on shares of Waters in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Barclays raised their target price on Waters from $425.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Waters from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $430.10.

Waters Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE WAT opened at $408.02 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $394.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $354.20. Waters has a 12 month low of $282.77 and a 12 month high of $426.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.09 billion, a PE ratio of 101.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.19.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.01 by $0.04. Waters had a net margin of 3.58% and a return on equity of 11.27%. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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 analysts expect that Waters will post 14.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waters news, Director Christopher 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 value of $1,442,930.44. Following the sale, the director owned 17,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,086,515.52. This represents a 16.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Waters

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WAT. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Waters during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Resources Management Corp CT ADV bought a new position in shares of Waters during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Waters in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT grew its position in Waters by 121.2% during the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 73 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Vision Retirement LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waters during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Waters Company Profile

Waters Corporation (NYSE: WAT) develops and manufactures analytical workflow technologies used to measure, characterize and manage chemical and biological substances. Its customers include pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies, industrial organizations, academic institutions and government laboratories.

The company’s portfolio includes liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry and thermal analysis instruments, along with chromatography columns, consumables, laboratory software and services.