OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Cuts Stake in Waters Corporation $WAT

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd reduced its position in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,827 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 4,358 shares during the quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd’s holdings in Waters were worth $30,701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 359 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $136,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 2.9% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,048 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $386,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 411 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $156,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 5.9% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 630 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $189,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in shares of Waters by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,473 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $559,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waters news, Director Wei Jiang purchased 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $289.46 per share, with a total value of $144,730.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 3,441 shares in the company, valued at $996,031.86. This trade represents a 17.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Waters Price Performance

NYSE:WAT opened at $335.79 on Wednesday. Waters Corporation has a one year low of $275.05 and a one year high of $414.15. 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 firm has a market cap of $32.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.18, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $312.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $353.02.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.50 by $0.03. Waters had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 34.79%. The company had revenue of $932.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $928.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Waters has set its FY 2026 guidance at 14.300-14.500 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 2.250-2.350 EPS. Research analysts expect that Waters Corporation will post 14.39 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WAT. HSBC began coverage on shares of Waters in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $460.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Waters from $410.00 to $350.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Waters from $370.00 to $330.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Waters to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Evercore raised shares of Waters from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $387.53.

Waters 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.