Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Grows Stock Position in Waters Corporation $WAT

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 30.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 50,729 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,947 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $15,107,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its position in Waters by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 7,608 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,890,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Waters by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,681 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $638,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its position in shares of Waters by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 359 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $136,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Waters by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 616 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $386,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. HSBC raised their price target on Waters from $415.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on Waters from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Waters from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Waters in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $425.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Waters in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Four equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $396.68.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of WAT stock opened at $378.00 on Thursday. 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 market capitalization of $37.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.20. Waters Corporation has a one year low of $275.05 and a one year high of $414.15. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $349.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $346.85.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.70 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.25 EPS. Waters’s revenue for the quarter 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. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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.