Heartland Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Position in Waters Corporation $WAT

Heartland Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 96.3% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 24,463 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,002 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Waters were worth $9,175,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WAT. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Waters by 112.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,269 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $471,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Waters by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,048 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 200,051 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $73,733,000 after purchasing an additional 6,976 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 16.6% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waters during the 2nd quarter worth $232,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Waters

In related news, Director Christopher A. Kuebler sold 3,626 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.94, for a total value of $1,442,930.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 17,808 shares in the company, valued at $7,086,515.52. This represents a 16.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America increased their target price on Waters from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. TD Cowen upgraded Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $408.00 to $475.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $420.00 target price on shares of Waters in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings cut Waters from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, HSBC upped their price target on Waters from $415.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $420.35.

Waters Stock Up 1.9%

Waters stock opened at $412.37 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $381.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $347.24. The company has a market capitalization of $40.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 102.84, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.86. Waters Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $282.77 and a fifty-two week high of $421.74.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.01 by $0.04. Waters had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 3.58%.The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 113.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Waters has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.950-4.050 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 14.450-14.650 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Waters Corporation will post 14.57 earnings per share 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.