Sky Investment Group LLC Takes Position in Waters Corporation $WAT

Sky Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,786 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $532,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAT. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $14,146,000 after purchasing an additional 31,459 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 12.2% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 231,852 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $69,512,000 after buying an additional 25,182 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 329.0% in the 4th quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 4,294 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,631,000 after acquiring an additional 3,293 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 204.3% in the 3rd quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 14,301 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $4,155,000 after acquiring an additional 9,601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in Waters by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 250,024 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $74,960,000 after acquiring an additional 27,990 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Waters from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $387.00 price target on shares of Waters in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Waters in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Evercore raised shares of Waters from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $394.56.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of WAT stock opened at $356.26 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $34.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.27, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.21. Waters Corporation has a 12 month low of $275.05 and a 12 month high of $414.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $342.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $348.22.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.39. Waters had a net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The company had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.25 EPS. The company’s 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. Research analysts expect that Waters Corporation will post 14.51 EPS for the current year.

About Waters

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.