Christopher Kuebler Sells 3,626 Shares of Waters (NYSE:WAT) Stock

Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) Director Christopher Kuebler sold 3,626 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.94, for a total transaction of $1,442,930.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 17,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,086,515.52. The trade was a 16.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Waters Price Performance

WAT stock traded up $7.24 during trading on Friday, hitting $406.94. 888,557 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,032,541. Waters Corporation has a one year low of $275.05 and a one year high of $414.15. The stock has a market cap of $39.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 101.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $372.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $345.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.01 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. Waters had a net margin of 3.58% and a return on equity of 11.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 113.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. Waters has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.950-4.050 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 14.450-14.650 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Waters Corporation will post 14.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WAT shares. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $420.00 price target on shares of Waters in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Waters from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Waters from $435.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen upgraded Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $408.00 to $475.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price target on Waters in a report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waters currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $418.10.

Institutional Trading of Waters

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waters in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,182,191,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Waters by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,638,772 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $488,028,000 after buying an additional 348,379 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Waters by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,593,388 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $602,921,000 after buying an additional 8,590 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Waters by 32.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,472,419 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $441,446,000 after buying an additional 359,596 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Veritas Asset Management LLP increased its stake in shares of Waters by 112.3% in the 4th quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 1,241,206 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $471,447,000 after buying an additional 656,436 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.