Waters Corporation $WAT Shares Sold by Vestcor Inc

Vestcor Inc decreased its position in shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 38.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,870 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 2,469 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Waters were worth $1,160,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 buying an additional 246,128 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Waters by 31.0% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,021,358 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,403,615,000 after acquiring an additional 950,687 shares during the last quarter. 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 worth $806,397,000 after acquiring an additional 825,723 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Waters by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,676,198 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $934,100,000 after acquiring an additional 37,763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Waters by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,552,399 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $539,606,000 after purchasing an additional 42,202 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WAT shares. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Waters from $395.00 to $370.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Waters from $423.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Sunday, February 22nd. Wolfe Research upgraded Waters from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 8th. Finally, HSBC started coverage on Waters in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $460.00 target price for the company. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $393.84.

Waters Stock Performance

Waters stock traded up $1.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $285.11. 145,866 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,091,027. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Waters Corporation has a one year low of $275.05 and a one year high of $414.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $354.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $350.90. The company has a market cap of $27.97 billion, a PE ratio of 26.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.20.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.50 by $0.03. Waters had a return on equity of 34.79% and a net margin of 20.30%.The company had revenue of $932.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $928.17 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.10 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly 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. On average, equities analysts forecast that Waters Corporation will post 12.86 EPS for the current 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.