Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $242.60 Million Stock Position in Waters Corporation $WAT

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 60.8% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 814,716 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 307,941 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Waters were worth $242,599,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 77.2% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,074 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Hahn Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waters during the 1st quarter valued at $1,490,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Waters by 40.5% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 23,570 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $7,020,000 after purchasing an additional 6,793 shares during the period. S&CO Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waters by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. S&CO Inc. now owns 11,417 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,399,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the period. Finally, SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new position in shares of Waters in the 1st quarter worth about $5,617,000. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of WAT opened at $382.38 on Friday. Waters Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $275.05 and a fifty-two week high of $414.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.79. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $364.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $345.93. The firm has a market cap of $37.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.59, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.20.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.70 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business 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. Waters’s revenue for the quarter 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 research analysts forecast that Waters Corporation will post 14.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $410.00 price objective on shares of Waters in a research note on Monday, July 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Waters from $380.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Waters in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $435.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Waters from $350.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waters presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $401.60.

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.