Brokerages Set Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) Target Price at $393.84

Shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $393.8421.

WAT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Waters from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Evercore began coverage on shares of Waters in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. They set a “hold” rating and a $360.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $440.00 price objective on shares of Waters in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Waters in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $460.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price 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.

Waters Stock Up 1.1%

WAT stock opened at $286.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.73. The company has a market capitalization of $28.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.59, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.20. Waters has a fifty-two week low of $275.05 and a fifty-two week high of $414.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $352.67 and a 200-day moving average of $351.58.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 9th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.50 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $932.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $928.17 million. Waters had a return on equity of 34.79% and a net margin of 20.30%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.10 EPS. Waters has set its FY 2026 guidance at 14.300-14.500 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 2.250-2.350 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Waters will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Waters

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its stake in Waters by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 7,608 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,890,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Waters by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,681 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $638,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 359 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $136,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $386,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.