Boussard & Gavaudan Gestion Sas Takes $655,000 Position in Waters Corporation $WAT

Boussard & Gavaudan Gestion Sas acquired a new position in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,783 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $655,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pilgrim Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Waters during the second quarter worth $466,131,171,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Waters during the second quarter worth about $3,182,191,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in Waters during the second quarter worth about $623,921,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Waters during the fourth quarter worth about $265,751,000. Finally, Veritas Asset Management LLP lifted its position in shares of Waters by 112.3% during the fourth quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 1,241,206 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $471,447,000 after purchasing an additional 656,436 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Christopher A. Kuebler sold 3,626 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.94, for a total value of $1,442,930.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 17,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,086,515.52. This represents a 16.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Waters Stock Down 1.6%

Waters stock opened at $414.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $40.73 billion, a PE ratio of 103.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $387.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $348.45. Waters Corporation has a 1-year low of $282.77 and a 1-year high of $426.22.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.01 by $0.04. Waters had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 3.58%.The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 113.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Waters has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.950-4.050 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 14.450-14.650 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Waters Corporation will post 14.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Waters from $425.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. HSBC increased their target price on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. 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. Weiss Ratings lowered Waters from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $387.00 price objective on Waters in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waters currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $424.35.

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.