Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Sell-Side Analysts

Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $437.10.

WAT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Waters from $435.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $420.00 price objective on shares of Waters in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $430.00 price objective on Waters in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Waters from $465.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Waters from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $400.00 to $480.00 in a report on Thursday, August 27th.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of WAT opened at $425.59 on Tuesday. Waters has a 1-year low of $282.77 and a 1-year high of $448.21. The stock has a market cap of $41.81 billion, a PE ratio of 106.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $411.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $366.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.01 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. Waters had a net margin of 3.58% and a return on equity of 11.27%. The business’s revenue was up 113.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. Waters has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.950-4.050 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 14.450-14.650 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Waters will post 14.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Waters

In other news, Director Christopher Kuebler sold 3,626 shares of Waters stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.94, for a total value of $1,442,930.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 17,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,086,515.52. This trade represents a 16.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in Waters by 25.4% during the 1st quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 138,423 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $41,222,000 after buying an additional 28,074 shares during the last quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. increased its position in Waters by 101.3% during the second quarter. Dudley & Shanley Inc. now owns 23,590 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $8,847,000 after buying an additional 11,870 shares during the period. Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. purchased a new stake in Waters in the first quarter valued at approximately $942,000. Hahn Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Waters in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,490,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 106.7% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,751 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,045,000 after acquiring an additional 1,420 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Waters

Waters Corporation (NYSE: WAT) develops and manufactures analytical workflow solutions used to measure, characterize and separate chemical and biological materials. Its customers include pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic and government laboratories, and organizations in the industrial, food, environmental and other applied markets.

The company’s portfolio includes high-performance liquid chromatography and ultra-performance liquid chromatography systems, mass spectrometry instruments, chromatography columns and other laboratory consumables.