Boussard & Gavaudan Gestion Sas Purchases New Position in Waters Corporation $WAT

Boussard & Gavaudan Gestion Sas acquired a new position in shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,783 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $655,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WAT. Pilgrim Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waters in the 2nd quarter valued at about $466,131,171,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Waters during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,182,191,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in Waters during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $623,921,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Waters during the fourth quarter worth approximately $265,751,000. Finally, Veritas Asset Management LLP lifted its stake in Waters by 112.3% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WAT. Citigroup increased their price objective on Waters from $425.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Waters in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $408.00 to $475.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Waters from $425.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waters has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $424.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waters news, Director Christopher A. Kuebler sold 3,626 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.94, for a total transaction of $1,442,930.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 17,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,086,515.52. This represents a 16.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Waters Trading Down 1.6%

NYSE:WAT opened at $414.55 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $40.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 103.38, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $387.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $348.45. Waters Corporation has a 12-month low of $282.77 and a 12-month high of $426.22.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.01 by $0.04. Waters had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 3.58%.The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 113.3% on a year-over-year basis. 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 anticipate that Waters Corporation will post 14.56 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.