D.A. Davidson & CO. Boosts Holdings in Waters Corporation $WAT

D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 453.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 17,953 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 14,709 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Waters were worth $5,346,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,593,388 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $602,921,000 after purchasing an additional 8,590 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Waters by 32.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,472,419 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $441,446,000 after purchasing an additional 359,596 shares during the last quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP boosted its position in Waters by 112.3% during 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 period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Waters by 17.0% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,019,289 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $303,556,000 after buying an additional 148,320 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Waters during the fourth quarter valued at about $265,751,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on WAT. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Waters in a report on Thursday, June 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Waters from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $410.00 price target on shares of Waters in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Waters from $380.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waters presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $401.60.

Waters Trading Down 2.5%

WAT opened at $368.82 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $362.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $346.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.86, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.20. 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 Corporation has a one year low of $275.05 and a one year high of $414.15.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.25 EPS. The business’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. Analysts predict that Waters Corporation will post 14.51 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.