Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Waters Corporation $WAT

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 870,969 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,792 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.46% of Waters worth $330,836,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Waters by 69.5% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,242 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,231,000 after buying an additional 1,329 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Waters by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,751 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $665,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 7,400 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,811,000 after acquiring an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 256.7% in the 4th quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 76,639 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $29,110,000 after acquiring an additional 55,152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Waters in the fourth quarter worth $244,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Waters

In related news, Director Wei Jiang bought 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $289.46 per share, with a total value of $144,730.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 3,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $996,031.86. This trade represents a 17.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Waters News

Here are the key news stories impacting Waters this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat consensus — Reported adjusted EPS of $2.70 vs. $2.31 expected and revenue of $1.267B, driven by both organic strength and the recently acquired biosciences assets. Press Release
• Positive Sentiment: Raised FY 2026 profit guidance — Management lifted full?year adjusted EPS to $14.40–$14.60 and raised revenue guidance, signalling stronger-than-expected underlying performance. Reuters: Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Acquisition is contributing early revenue and apparent synergies — ~$520M of revenue from the acquired Biosciences & Diagnostic Solutions businesses helped drive the beat and investor optimism about integration upside. Quiver Quant
• Neutral Sentiment: Strong organic growth by division — Analytical Sciences showed instrument and chemistry strength (high?single?digit instrument growth, mid?teens chemistry growth), supporting durable end?market demand. PR Newswire: Q1 Highlights
• Neutral Sentiment: Q2 EPS range modestly overlaps but slightly below some street estimates — Q2 guide of $2.95–$3.05 sits around consensus (reported ~3.03), which tempers the near?term outlook despite the full?year raise. Zacks: Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support — At least one firm reiterated a Buy rating, highlighting pharma demand and BD synergies as upside drivers. TipRanks: Analyst Note

Waters Trading Up 13.5%

Shares of WAT stock opened at $342.57 on Wednesday. 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 $33.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.81, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $309.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $352.05.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. Waters had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 34.79%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 91.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.25 EPS. 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, equities research analysts expect that Waters Corporation will post 14.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Waters in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $425.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird set a $363.00 price target on Waters in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Waters to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $440.00 target price on shares of Waters in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Waters from $423.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Sunday, February 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waters currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $387.53.

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.