Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Acquires 486,198 Shares of Waters Corporation $WAT

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 18,305.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 488,854 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 486,198 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned 0.50% of Waters worth $146,602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Waters by 112.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,269 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $471,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in 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. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Waters by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 200,051 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $73,733,000 after buying an additional 6,976 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Waters by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,126 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $415,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Waters during the second quarter valued at about $232,000. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WAT. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Waters in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on Waters from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Waters in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Waters in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $425.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Waters from $380.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $401.60.

Waters Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of WAT opened at $378.07 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.20. Waters Corporation has a 1 year low of $275.05 and a 1 year high of $414.15. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $361.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $346.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.70 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.25 earnings per share. Waters’s quarterly revenue was up 91.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Waters has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.050 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 14.400-14.600 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Waters Corporation will post 14.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.