Waters (NYSE:WAT) Stock Lifted to Buy by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Waters (NYSE:WAT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

WAT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Waters from $460.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Waters from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Waters from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $400.00 to $480.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Waters from $440.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Waters from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Waters currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $457.50.

Waters Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of Waters stock opened at $456.17 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $425.31 and its 200-day moving average is $369.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.82 billion, a PE ratio of 113.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Waters has a 12-month low of $282.77 and a 12-month high of $465.36.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Waters

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waters

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WAT. PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Waters during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. First Bancorp Inc ME purchased a new stake in shares of Waters in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Caitlin John LLC lifted its position in shares of Waters by 43.9% in the second quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 82 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waters during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Resources Management Corp CT ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Waters during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waters Company Profile

Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) develops and manufactures analytical technologies used to measure, identify and characterize chemical and biological substances. Its customers include pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, industrial manufacturers, academic and government laboratories, and organizations involved in food, environmental and clinical testing.

The company’s product portfolio includes high-performance liquid chromatography and ultra-performance liquid chromatography systems, mass spectrometers, chromatography columns and consumables, and laboratory software for data management and analysis.