Cooke & Bieler LP Sells 59,117 Shares of Waters Corporation $WAT

Key Points

• Cooke & Bieler LP reduced its Waters stake by 22%, selling 59,117 shares in the second quarter and retaining 209,736 shares valued at approximately $78.7 million. Institutional investors collectively own 94.01% of the company.
• Waters reported quarterly EPS of $3.05, exceeding estimates of $3.01, while revenue reached $1.65 billion versus expectations of $1.62 billion. The company issued third-quarter EPS guidance of $3.95–$4.05 and full-year guidance of $14.45–$14.65.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $420.35, compared with the stock’s reported price of $411.88. Recent targets range from $375 to $435.

Cooke & Bieler LP cut its holdings in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) by 22.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 209,736 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 59,117 shares during the quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP owned about 0.21% of Waters worth $78,659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Waters by 112.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,269 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $471,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake in Waters by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,048 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $386,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Waters by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 200,051 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $73,733,000 after acquiring an additional 6,976 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Waters by 16.6% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,126 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $415,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Waters during the second quarter valued at about $232,000. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $420.00 price objective on shares of Waters in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Waters from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley set a $430.00 price target on Waters in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, HSBC increased their price target on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $420.35.

Waters Stock Down 0.4%

WAT opened at $411.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 102.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $377.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $346.31. Waters Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $282.77 and a fifty-two week high of $420.26.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 was up 113.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior 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. On average, analysts anticipate that Waters Corporation will post 14.57 EPS for the current year.

Waters 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.

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