Waters (NYSE:WAT) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Waters (NYSE:WAT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Sunday morning.

WAT has been the subject of several other reports. Guggenheim started coverage on Waters in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $440.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Waters in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Waters in a research report on Monday, December 1st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $423.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waters in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Waters from $385.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waters currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $400.84.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of WAT opened at $326.82 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.46 billion, a PE ratio of 30.35, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company’s 50-day moving average is $385.01 and its 200-day moving average is $347.69. Waters has a fifty-two week low of $275.05 and a fifty-two week high of $414.15.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.50 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $932.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $928.17 million. Waters had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 36.45%. Waters’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.10 EPS. Waters has set its FY 2026 guidance at 14.300-14.500 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 2.250-2.350 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Waters will post 12.86 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Waters

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WAT. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its position in Waters by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 7,608 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,890,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Waters by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,681 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $638,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 359 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $136,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Waters by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 616 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $234,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Waters by 2.9% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,048 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $386,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Waters this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat expectations — Waters reported $4.53 EPS and $932M revenue, topping consensus and showing year‑over‑year revenue growth, supporting the company’s operating strength. Zacks: Waters Beats Q4
• Positive Sentiment: Major analyst bullishness: Guggenheim reaffirmed a Buy and set a $440 price target, and Citi initiated coverage with a Buy and $425 target — both imply sizable upside versus the current level. Benzinga / Guggenheim TickerReport / Citi
• Positive Sentiment: Waters completed the Reverse Morris Trust combination with BD’s Biosciences & Diagnostic Solutions business, creating a larger life‑sciences company and naming Claire M. Fraser, Ph.D. to the board — a strategic step that management says will drive scale and synergies. PR Newswire: Combination Closed
• Neutral Sentiment: Evercore ISI initiated coverage with an In‑Line rating and $360 target — modest upside but not an upgrade; this is informational rather than a clear directional catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term guidance disappointed: Waters guided Q1 EPS of $2.25–$2.35 vs. consensus ~ $2.52 and flagged first‑quarter profit below Wall Street estimates, which pressured sentiment. Yahoo Finance: Q1 Forecast
• Negative Sentiment: Several analysts trimmed targets or tempered ratings: Bank of America cut its price target to $350 and kept a Neutral rating, and TD Cowen maintained a Hold while lowering its target to $373 — incremental negative influence on sentiment. Benzinga / BofA TipRanks / TD Cowen
• Positive Sentiment: Management set FY‑2026 targets that reflect the BD integration: projected revenue around $6.4–$6.46B and a target margin near 28.1%, signaling potential longer‑term upside if synergies materialize. MSN: FY2026 Targets

About Waters

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.