Waters Corporation $WAT Shares Purchased by Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas

Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas boosted its stake in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 28.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,850 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,756 shares during the quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas’ holdings in Waters were worth $2,982,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT grew its stake in Waters by 121.2% in the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 73 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Waters in the third quarter worth $26,000. eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waters in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its holdings in Waters by 39.6% in the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 155 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Waters by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 160 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WAT. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Waters from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Waters in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Waters to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $394.56.

Waters Price Performance

WAT stock opened at $360.87 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $35.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.85, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.21. Waters Corporation has a twelve month low of $275.05 and a twelve month high of $414.15. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $339.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $349.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. Waters had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 11.91%.The company’s revenue was up 91.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.25 earnings per share. Waters has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.050 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 14.400-14.600 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Waters Corporation will post 14.51 EPS for the current year.

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.