46,834 Shares in Waters Corporation $WAT Purchased by AustralianSuper Pty Ltd

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new position in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 46,834 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $17,789,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAT. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its position in shares of Waters by 0.3% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Freemont Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Waters by 197.1% during the 4th quarter. Freemont Management S.A. now owns 41,600 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $15,801,000 after purchasing an additional 27,600 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Waters by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,787 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,198,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares during the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Waters by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 18,678 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $7,094,000 after purchasing an additional 1,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stiles Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of Waters during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $252,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WAT shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Waters from $423.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Sunday, February 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Waters to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Waters in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $425.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Waters from $410.00 to $350.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $396.00.

Insider Activity at Waters

In related news, Director Wei Jiang purchased 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $289.46 per share, for a total transaction of $144,730.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 3,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,031.86. This trade represents a 17.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Waters Price Performance

WAT opened at $329.20 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $313.90 and a 200 day moving average of $351.86. 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 0.43, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $32.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.83, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.14.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. Waters had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 11.91%.Waters’s revenue was up 91.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $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. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waters Corporation will post 14.49 EPS for the current year.

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.