Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Raises Stake in Waters Corporation $WAT

Key Points

• Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its Waters Corporation stake by 65% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 22,846 shares valued at about $6.8 million.
• Waters reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings of $2.70 per share on revenue of $1.27 billion, and it also issued strong guidance for Q2 2026 and FY 2026.
• Analysts remain generally positive on the stock, with several firms raising price targets and the consensus rating sitting at Moderate Buy with an average target price of $401.60.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its stake in shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) by 65.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 22,846 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after buying an additional 8,998 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's holdings in Waters were worth $6,804,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its position in Waters by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 7,608 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $2,890,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,681 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $638,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its stake in Waters by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 359 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $136,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Waters by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 616 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Waters by 2.9% during the first 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company's stock.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WAT opened at $376.81 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $360.75 and a 200 day moving average of $346.51. The stock has a market cap of $37.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.20. Waters Corporation has a 12 month low of $275.05 and a 12 month high of $414.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.39. Waters had a net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The business had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.25 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 91.4% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Waters Corporation will post 14.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on WAT. UBS Group boosted their target price on Waters from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Waters in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $425.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Waters from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Waters from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Waters from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waters has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $401.60.

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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