Waters (NYSE:WAT) Raised to "Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Waters to “Buy” from “Hold,” joining several analysts who recently raised their ratings or price targets. MarketBeat’s consensus view is “Moderate Buy,” with an average target price of $441.68.
• Waters exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $3.05 in EPS versus the $3.01 consensus and $1.65 billion in revenue versus $1.62 billion expected. Revenue increased 113.3% year over year, and the company expects full-year 2026 EPS of $14.45–$14.65.
• The stock opened at $433.45, near its 52-week high of $454.54, while institutional investors own 94.01% of outstanding shares. A company director recently sold 3,626 shares, reducing his position by 16.92%.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Waters from $465.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 21st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Waters from $425.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Waters from $460.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Waters in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Waters from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $400.00 to $480.00 in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waters currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $441.68.

Waters Stock Performance

NYSE WAT opened at $433.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $416.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $371.40. The company has a market cap of $42.59 billion, a PE ratio of 108.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.15. Waters has a 1-year low of $282.77 and a 1-year high of $454.54.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.62 billion. Waters had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 3.58%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 113.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Waters will post 14.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Waters news, Director Christopher Kuebler sold 3,626 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was 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 directly owned 17,808 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,086,515.52. This trade represents a 16.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Waters

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WAT. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Waters by 10.5% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,273 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,227,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Waters by 29.3% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 1,131 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $424,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Waters by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,382,008 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,643,428,000 after purchasing an additional 19,998 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in shares of Waters in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $14,274,000. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in shares of Waters by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 464,501 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $174,206,000 after buying an additional 32,355 shares during the period. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Waters

Waters Corporation NYSE: WAT develops and manufactures analytical workflow solutions used to measure, characterize and separate chemical and biological materials. Its customers include pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic and government laboratories, and organizations in the industrial, food, environmental and other applied markets.

The company's portfolio includes high-performance liquid chromatography and ultra-performance liquid chromatography systems, mass spectrometry instruments, chromatography columns and other laboratory consumables.

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