Legal & General Group Plc Has $164.73 Million Stock Position in Waters Corporation $WAT

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its position in shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 433,682 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 5,024 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Waters were worth $164,725,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waters by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,656,891 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,295,612,000 after purchasing an additional 246,128 shares in the last quarter. Fundsmith LLP raised its stake in shares of Waters by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fundsmith LLP now owns 3,955,498 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,185,898,000 after purchasing an additional 347,091 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Waters by 225.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,551,010 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $465,008,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074,449 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Waters by 32.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,472,419 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $441,446,000 after purchasing an additional 359,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fundsmith Investment Services LTD. raised its stake in shares of Waters by 11.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 135,504 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Stock Up 1.3%

WAT opened at $343.01 on Thursday. Waters Corporation has a 1-year low of $275.05 and a 1-year high of $414.15. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $320.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $350.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $33.68 billion, a PE ratio of 43.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.14.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.39. Waters had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 11.91%.The business had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 91.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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, research analysts expect that Waters Corporation will post 14.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Wei Jiang acquired 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $289.46 per share, with a total value of $144,730.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 3,441 shares in the company, valued at $996,031.86. This represents a 17.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WAT. Barclays upped their price objective on Waters from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup began coverage on Waters in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $425.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Waters from $423.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Sunday, February 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waters in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $396.00.

Waters 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.