Swedbank AB Increases Position in Waters Corporation $WAT

Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 58.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 66,799 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,601 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Waters were worth $19,893,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fundsmith LLP grew its stake in Waters by 9.6% in the third quarter. Fundsmith LLP now owns 3,955,498 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,185,898,000 after purchasing an additional 347,091 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 valued at $602,921,000 after buying an additional 8,590 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 32.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,472,419 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $441,446,000 after buying an additional 359,596 shares in the last quarter. Fundsmith Investment Services LTD. grew its position in shares of Waters by 11.1% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Veritas Asset Management LLP grew its position in shares of 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 worth $471,447,000 after buying an additional 656,436 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WAT opened at $377.42 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $357.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $346.69. The firm has a market cap of $37.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.20. Waters Corporation has a 52 week low of $275.05 and a 52 week high of $414.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. Waters had a net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 91.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $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, sell-side analysts expect that Waters Corporation will post 14.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Waters from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Waters from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Waters in a report on Friday, June 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $435.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Waters in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Waters in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $403.60.

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.