Waters (NYSE:WAT) Rating Lowered to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Waters from “Buy” to “Hold,” although the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $443.79.
• Waters reported quarterly EPS of $3.05, beating estimates of $3.01, while revenue reached $1.65 billion—above expectations and up 113.3% year over year.
• Shares opened at $436.88, near their 52-week high of $454.54; institutional investors own 94.01% of the company, while an insider recently reduced his holdings by 16.92% through a stock sale.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on WAT. UBS Group upgraded Waters from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $375.00 to $490.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Piper Sandler raised Waters from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $400.00 to $480.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Waters in a report on Friday, June 26th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $435.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Waters from $435.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Waters from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Waters currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $443.79.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of WAT stock opened at $436.88 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $420.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $376.18. 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 has a 52-week low of $282.77 and a 52-week high of $454.54. The stock has a market cap of $42.92 billion, a PE ratio of 108.95, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.15.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.01 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.62 billion. Waters had a net margin of 3.58% and a return on equity of 11.27%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 113.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $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 forecast that Waters will post 14.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Christopher 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WAT. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 3.3% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,153,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,273 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,227,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 29.3% during 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of 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 period. Finally, Nykredit A S acquired a new position in shares of Waters in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $14,274,000. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More Waters News

Here are the key news stories impacting Waters this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: Roger Waters’ criticism of Metallica’s James Hetfield and articles about his political songs and the inspiration behind Pink Floyd’s “Time” are entertainment news unrelated to Waters Corporation’s operations, earnings, or outlook. Roger Waters slams James Hetfield following controversial comments at The Sphere in Las Vegas
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage of Anna Leigh Waters’ pickleball career and a planned pickleball showcase in the Philippines also has no apparent connection to Waters Corporation. Anna Leigh Waters' net worth and endorsements
• Neutral Sentiment: Representative James McGovern’s fundraising disclosure and the “Waters rallies support as rivals circle” political article do not identify a development involving Waters Corporation or its financial performance. Fundraising Update: Representative James P. McGovern just disclosed $118.1K of new fundraising

Waters Company Profile

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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