Levin Capital Strategies L.P. Purchases Shares of 29,535 Waters Corporation $WAT

Levin Capital Strategies L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 29,535 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $8,795,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Waters during the first quarter valued at approximately $496,000. Barbara Oil Co. acquired a new position in shares of Waters in the 1st quarter valued at $201,000. CI Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Waters by 12.0% during the first quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 4,575 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,362,000 after buying an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Westpac Banking Corp grew its position in Waters by 73.7% during the first quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 1,864 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $555,000 after buying an additional 791 shares during the period. Finally, ABN Amro Investment Solutions raised its position in shares of Waters by 125.2% in the first quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 4,000 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,191,000 after acquiring an additional 2,224 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE WAT opened at $370.93 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $36.42 billion, a PE ratio of 47.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.20. 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 Corporation has a 12-month low of $275.05 and a 12-month high of $414.15. The company has a 50-day moving average of $363.34 and a 200 day moving average of $345.93.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.39. Waters had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 11.91%.The business had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.25 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 91.4% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, sell-side analysts predict that Waters Corporation will post 14.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WAT. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Waters from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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 reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waters in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Waters from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Waters in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $435.00 price objective on the stock. Three equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $401.60.

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.