Waters (NYSE:WAT) Hits New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $433.09 and last traded at $425.7760, with a volume of 648345 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $423.92.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WAT. UBS Group upgraded shares of Waters from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $375.00 to $490.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Waters from $435.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $430.00 target price on shares of Waters in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Waters from $465.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Waters from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waters presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $434.60.

Waters Trading Up 2.6%

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 company has a market capitalization of $42.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $403.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $361.12.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced 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 net margin of 3.58% and a return on equity of 11.27%. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. Waters’s quarterly revenue was up 113.3% on a year-over-year basis. 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, equities analysts expect that Waters Corporation will post 14.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Waters

In other news, Director Christopher Kuebler sold 3,626 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.94, for a total transaction of $1,442,930.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 17,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,086,515.52. This represents a 16.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waters

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caitlin John LLC raised its stake in Waters by 43.9% during the 2nd quarter. Caitlin John LLC now owns 82 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 616 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 2.3% in the first quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 1,330 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $396,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Callan Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Waters by 1.5% during the second quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 2,151 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $807,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of Waters by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,756 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $3,326,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waters Company Profile

Waters Corporation (NYSE: WAT) develops and manufactures analytical workflow technologies used to measure, characterize and manage chemical and biological substances. Its customers include pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies, industrial organizations, academic institutions and government laboratories.

The company’s portfolio includes liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry and thermal analysis instruments, along with chromatography columns, consumables, laboratory software and services.