Letson Investment Management Inc. Takes Position in Waters Corporation $WAT

Letson Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,812 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $540,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Waters by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 7,608 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,890,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Waters by 1.7% during 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 stake in Waters by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 359 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $136,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Waters by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 616 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Price Performance

NYSE:WAT opened at $378.00 on Thursday. 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 has a 50-day moving average of $349.79 and a 200-day moving average of $346.85. Waters Corporation has a 52 week low of $275.05 and a 52 week high of $414.15. The company has a market capitalization of $37.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.03, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.20.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its 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 net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 15.60%. 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 previous year, the firm posted $2.25 earnings per share. 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Waters Corporation will post 14.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore upgraded shares of Waters from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. Barclays lifted their target price on Waters from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Piper Sandler started coverage on Waters in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Waters to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Waters from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $396.68.

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.