Winthrop Partners WNY LLC Purchases New Position in Waters Corporation $WAT

Winthrop Partners WNY LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,077 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $789,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Waters by 3.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,656,891 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,295,612,000 after purchasing an additional 246,128 shares during the last quarter. Fundsmith LLP boosted its position in shares of Waters by 9.6% during the third quarter. Fundsmith LLP now owns 3,955,498 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,185,898,000 after buying an additional 347,091 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Waters by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,593,388 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $602,921,000 after buying an additional 8,590 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Waters by 32.3% during the third 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 holdings in Waters by 11.1% during the third 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. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WAT shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waters in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Waters from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Waters to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Waters from $423.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Sunday, February 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Waters from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Waters has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $394.56.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of WAT stock opened at $356.26 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.27, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $342.66 and its 200 day moving average is $348.56. Waters Corporation has a 12 month low of $275.05 and a 12 month high of $414.15.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same period last year, the firm 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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Waters Corporation will post 14.51 earnings per share 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.