Avidity Partners Management LP Invests $3.08 Million in Waters Corporation $WAT

Avidity Partners Management LP acquired a new stake in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 8,100 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $3,077,000. Waters accounts for about 0.9% of Avidity Partners Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 6,223 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,364,000 after purchasing an additional 768 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 1,611.3% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 581,063 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $220,705,000 after purchasing an additional 547,109 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 73,375 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $28,035,000 after purchasing an additional 1,334 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 25,202 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $9,572,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 9,849 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $3,741,000 after purchasing an additional 2,521 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WAT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Waters from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Waters from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. HSBC upped their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Waters in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waters has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $394.56.

Insider Activity

In other Waters news, Director Wei Jiang purchased 500 shares of Waters stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $289.46 per share, with a total value of $144,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,031.86. This trade represents a 17.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Waters Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of WAT opened at $355.10 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.87 billion, a PE ratio of 45.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.21. Waters Corporation has a 1 year low of $275.05 and a 1 year high of $414.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.79. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $337.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $350.26.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. Waters had a net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 91.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.25 earnings per share. Waters has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.050 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 14.400-14.600 EPS. Analysts forecast that Waters Corporation will post 14.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.