Hsbc Holdings PLC Acquires 69,648 Shares of Waters Corporation $WAT

Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 17.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 465,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 69,648 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 0.47% of Waters worth $138,468,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Waters by 112.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,269 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $471,000 after buying an additional 673 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,048 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $386,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 200,051 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $73,733,000 after acquiring an additional 6,976 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Waters by 16.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,126 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $415,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Waters during the 2nd quarter valued at about $232,000. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WAT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $410.00 price target on shares of Waters in a research note on Monday, July 6th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Waters in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Waters in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $401.60.

Waters Price Performance

WAT stock opened at $368.82 on Friday. Waters Corporation has a 1 year low of $275.05 and a 1 year high of $414.15. The company has a market cap of $36.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.86, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $362.09 and a 200 day moving average of $346.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.25 EPS. The business’s revenue 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. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Waters Corporation will post 14.51 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.