Waters (NYSE:WAT) Upgraded by Piper Sandler to “Hold” Rating

Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Waters (NYSE:WAT) to a hold rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on WAT. HSBC upped their target price on Waters from $415.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Bank of America upped their price target on Waters from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Waters from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waters in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Waters from $423.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Sunday, February 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $394.56.

Waters Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:WAT opened at $359.80 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.79. Waters has a 1 year low of $275.05 and a 1 year high of $414.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.72, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $336.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $350.23.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.39. Waters had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 11.91%.The company had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.25 EPS. Waters’s quarterly revenue 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. Equities analysts forecast that Waters will post 14.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Wei Jiang bought 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $289.46 per share, with a total value of $144,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $996,031.86. This represents a 17.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Waters by 112.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,269 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $471,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 2.9% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,048 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $386,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 3.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 200,051 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $73,733,000 after acquiring an additional 6,976 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Waters by 16.6% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,126 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Waters during the second quarter valued at approximately $232,000. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.