Fundsmith Investment Services LTD. Grows Holdings in Waters Corporation $WAT

Fundsmith Investment Services LTD. increased its stake in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 11.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,356,289 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 135,504 shares during the quarter. Waters comprises approximately 6.3% of Fundsmith Investment Services LTD.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Fundsmith Investment Services LTD. owned approximately 2.28% of Waters worth $406,629,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Waters by 225.5% in the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,551,010 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $465,008,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074,449 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Waters by 31.0% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,021,358 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,403,615,000 after purchasing an additional 950,687 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Waters by 44.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,689,693 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $806,397,000 after purchasing an additional 825,723 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Waters during the 2nd quarter valued at about $266,384,000. Finally, Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in Waters in the 3rd quarter worth about $175,320,000. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WAT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Waters from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Barclays initiated coverage on Waters in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock. Evercore started coverage on Waters in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $360.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Waters from $410.00 to $350.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, William Blair began coverage on Waters in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $393.84.

Waters Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE WAT opened at $286.42 on Friday. Waters Corporation has a one year low of $275.05 and a one year high of $414.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.73. The company has a market capitalization of $28.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $352.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $350.81.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.50 by $0.03. Waters had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 34.79%. The firm had revenue of $932.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $928.17 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.10 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Waters has set its FY 2026 guidance at 14.300-14.500 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 2.250-2.350 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Waters Corporation will post 12.86 EPS for the current fiscal 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.