Waters Corporation $WAT Shares Bought by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 76.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 288,614 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 125,494 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Waters were worth $85,949,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WAT. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Waters by 543.8% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 37,244 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $14,146,000 after acquiring an additional 31,459 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its position in Waters by 329.0% in the fourth quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 4,294 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,631,000 after acquiring an additional 3,293 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Waters by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 13,550 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $5,177,000 after acquiring an additional 1,848 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Waters by 106.7% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,751 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of Waters by 1,662.4% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 64,273 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $24,413,000 after purchasing an additional 60,626 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Waters in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Waters in a research note on Friday, June 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $435.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Waters in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $425.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Waters in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $435.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Waters in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Waters presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $401.60.

Waters Trading Down 3.2%

NYSE WAT opened at $357.29 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.79. Waters Corporation has a one year low of $275.05 and a one year high of $414.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $362.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $346.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.08 billion, a PE ratio of 45.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.20.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.25 earnings per share. Waters’s quarterly revenue 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. On average, equities analysts forecast that Waters Corporation will post 14.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Waters 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.