Nykredit A S Takes $14.27 Million Position in Waters Corporation $WAT

Key Points

• Nykredit A/S acquired 38,061 Waters shares during the second quarter, worth approximately $14.27 million. Institutional investors collectively own 94.01% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Waters carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $430.10; targets range as high as $480.
• Waters exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $3.05 in earnings per share versus the $3.01 estimate and $1.65 billion in revenue versus $1.62 billion expected. The stock opened at $421.62, near its 52-week high of $431.77.

Nykredit A S bought a new position in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 38,061 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $14,274,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Pilgrim Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Waters in the 2nd quarter worth about $466,131,171,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Waters during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,182,191,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waters during the 2nd quarter valued at about $623,921,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,593,388 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $602,921,000 after acquiring an additional 8,590 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Waters by 69.2% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,373,150 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $514,986,000 after purchasing an additional 561,824 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WAT shares. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $440.00 target price on shares of Waters in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Waters in a report on Friday, June 26th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $435.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler upgraded Waters from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $400.00 to $480.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Barclays upped their price objective on Waters from $425.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Waters from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Waters currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $430.10.

Waters Stock Down 1.9%

WAT opened at $421.62 on Friday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $399.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $357.57. The company has a market capitalization of $41.42 billion, a PE ratio of 105.14, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.19. Waters Corporation has a 1-year low of $282.77 and a 1-year high of $431.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. Waters had a net margin of 3.58% and a return on equity of 11.27%. The company'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 firm 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, equities analysts forecast that Waters Corporation will post 14.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Waters

In other Waters news, Director Christopher Kuebler sold 3,626 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 17,808 shares in the company, valued at $7,086,515.52. This represents a 16.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

About Waters

Waters Corporation NYSE: WAT develops and manufactures analytical workflow technologies used to measure, characterize and manage chemical and biological substances. Its customers include pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies, industrial organizations, academic institutions and government laboratories.

The company's portfolio includes liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry and thermal analysis instruments, along with chromatography columns, consumables, laboratory software and services.

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