Legal & General Group Plc Increases Stock Holdings in Waters Corporation $WAT

Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 690,148 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,335 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.70% of Waters worth $258,833,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WAT. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Waters during the second quarter worth about $3,182,191,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Waters by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,638,772 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $488,028,000 after buying an additional 348,379 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Waters by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,593,388 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $602,921,000 after buying an additional 8,590 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Waters by 32.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,472,419 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $441,446,000 after buying an additional 359,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Veritas Asset Management LLP boosted its position in Waters by 112.3% in the 4th quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 1,241,206 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $471,447,000 after buying an additional 656,436 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waters Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:WAT opened at $415.07 on Thursday. Waters Corporation has a 1 year low of $282.77 and a 1 year high of $421.74. The stock has a market cap of $40.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 103.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 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. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $385.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $347.72.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.01 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. Waters had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 3.58%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 113.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. Waters has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.950-4.050 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 14.450-14.650 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Waters Corporation will post 14.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waters

In other news, Director Christopher A. Kuebler sold 3,626 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $397.94, for a total transaction of $1,442,930.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 17,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,086,515.52. The trade was a 16.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Waters from $435.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Barclays lifted their target price on Waters from $425.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating 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 note on Wednesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Waters from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Waters from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $420.35.

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.