Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Has $3.35 Million Stake in Waters Corporation $WAT

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 65.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,266 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,446 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Waters were worth $3,355,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fundsmith LLP increased its holdings in Waters by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fundsmith LLP now owns 3,955,498 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,185,898,000 after purchasing an additional 347,091 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Waters by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,593,388 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $602,921,000 after buying an additional 8,590 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Waters by 32.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,472,419 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $441,446,000 after buying an additional 359,596 shares during the period. Fundsmith Investment Services LTD. grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 11.1% during the third quarter. Fundsmith Investment Services LTD. now owns 1,356,289 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $406,629,000 after buying an additional 135,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Veritas Asset Management LLP raised its position in Waters by 112.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on WAT. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $440.00 price target on shares of Waters in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $410.00 price objective on shares of Waters in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Waters from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Waters in a research report on Friday, June 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $435.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waters currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $400.37.

Waters Stock Performance

Waters stock traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $377.35. 502,288 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 878,968. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $358.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $346.91. Waters Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $275.05 and a fifty-two week high of $414.15. The stock has a market cap of $37.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $1.27 billion for 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%. Waters’s quarterly revenue was up 91.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter 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. On average, research analysts expect that Waters Corporation will post 14.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Waters Company 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.