The Goldman Sachs Group Issues Positive Forecast for Waters (NYSE:WAT) Stock Price

Waters (NYSE:WAT) had its price objective increased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $465.00 to $515.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a buy rating on the medical instruments supplier’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on WAT. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Waters in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $425.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $408.00 to $475.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. HSBC raised their price target on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 6th. Finally, UBS Group raised Waters from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $375.00 to $490.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $434.60.

Waters Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE:WAT opened at $424.33 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.82, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $400.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $358.72. Waters has a 1-year low of $282.77 and a 1-year high of $431.77. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.01 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. Waters had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 3.58%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 113.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Waters will post 14.56 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Christopher Kuebler sold 3,626 shares of Waters stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 17,808 shares in the company, valued at $7,086,515.52. The trade was a 16.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waters

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pilgrim Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Waters during the second quarter worth $466,131,171,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Waters in the second quarter valued at $3,182,191,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in Waters during the 2nd quarter worth about $623,921,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Waters by 0.5% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Waters by 69.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,373,150 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $514,986,000 after acquiring an additional 561,824 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Waters

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.