10,716 Shares in Waters Corporation $WAT Bought by BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda.

Key Points

• BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. opened a new position in Waters Corporation, buying 10,716 shares valued at about $4.07 million in the fourth quarter.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with several other funds boosting positions and 94.01% of Waters stock held by institutional investors.
• Analysts are generally positive on WAT: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target price of $395.71, and Waters recently beat earnings and revenue estimates in its latest quarterly report.

BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. bought a new position in shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 10,716 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $4,070,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD purchased a new position in shares of Waters during the third quarter valued at $1,397,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Waters by 543.8% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 37,244 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $14,146,000 after buying an additional 31,459 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Waters by 12.2% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 231,852 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $69,512,000 after buying an additional 25,182 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Waters by 3.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,656,891 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $2,295,612,000 after buying an additional 246,128 shares during the period. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Waters during the third quarter valued at $4,677,000. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on WAT shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on Waters in a research note on Tuesday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $425.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on Waters from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Waters to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Waters from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Waters in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waters has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $395.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Wei Jiang bought 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $289.46 per share, for a total transaction of $144,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,031.86. This represents a 17.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of WAT stock opened at $371.90 on Wednesday. Waters Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $275.05 and a fifty-two week high of $414.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.25, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.79. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $325.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $350.93.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.25 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 91.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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, equities analysts forecast that Waters Corporation will post 14.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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