California State Teachers Retirement System Grows Stock Holdings in Waters Corporation $WAT

California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 68.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 154,059 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 62,393 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.16% of Waters worth $45,879,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its holdings in Waters by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 7,608 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,890,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,681 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $638,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $386,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Waters by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 616 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $234,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avalon Trust Co grew its position in shares of Waters by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 1,330 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $350.00 price objective on shares of Waters in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Waters from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Waters from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird set a $387.00 price target on shares of Waters in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Waters from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $401.60.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of WAT opened at $381.12 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $37.42 billion, a PE ratio of 48.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.20. Waters Corporation has a 12 month low of $275.05 and a 12 month high of $414.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $368.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $345.25.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.25 EPS. 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. Equities research analysts predict that Waters Corporation will post 14.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.