Investment Management Corp of Ontario Cuts Holdings in Waters Corporation $WAT

Investment Management Corp of Ontario lessened its stake in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 25.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 59,956 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 20,763 shares during the quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario’s holdings in Waters were worth $22,773,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Waters by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,656,891 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,295,612,000 after buying an additional 246,128 shares in the last quarter. Fundsmith LLP grew its stake in Waters by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fundsmith LLP now owns 3,955,498 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,185,898,000 after buying an additional 347,091 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Waters by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,593,388 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $602,921,000 after buying an additional 8,590 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Waters by 32.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,472,419 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $441,446,000 after buying an additional 359,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fundsmith Investment Services LTD. grew its stake in Waters by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fundsmith Investment Services LTD. now owns 1,356,289 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $406,629,000 after buying an additional 135,504 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of WAT opened at $357.02 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.36, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.21. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $340.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $348.84. Waters Corporation has a twelve month low of $275.05 and a twelve month high of $414.15.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. Waters had a net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 91.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.25 EPS. Waters has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.050 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 14.400-14.600 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Waters Corporation will post 14.51 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on WAT. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Evercore raised shares of Waters from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Waters from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waters in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Three equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waters presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $394.56.

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.