OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Sells 4,358 Shares of Waters Corporation $WAT

Key Points

• OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd trimmed its stake in Waters by 5.1%, selling 4,358 shares and leaving it with 80,827 shares worth about $30.7 million (≈0.14% of the company) at quarter-end.
• Waters beat Q results modestly with EPS $4.53 (vs. $4.50 est.) and revenue of $932.4M (+6.9% YoY), and provided FY2026 guidance of 14.30–14.50 EPS (consensus ~14.39).
• Institutional investors own 94.01% of the stock, and analysts show a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $387.53 average price target.

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd lessened its stake in shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 80,827 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 4,358 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd owned about 0.14% of Waters worth $30,701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WAT. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Waters by 112.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,269 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $471,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased 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 buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Waters by 3.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 200,051 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $73,733,000 after buying an additional 6,976 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Waters by 16.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,126 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $415,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Waters in the second quarter worth approximately $232,000. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company's stock.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WAT opened at $335.79 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $312.07 and a 200 day moving average of $353.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Waters Corporation has a 52 week low of $275.05 and a 52 week high of $414.15. The company has a market capitalization of $32.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.20.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.50 by $0.03. Waters had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 34.79%. The business had revenue of $932.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $928.17 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.10 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Waters has set its FY 2026 guidance at 14.300-14.500 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 2.250-2.350 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Waters Corporation will post 14.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Waters

In other news, Director Wei Jiang purchased 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $289.46 per share, with a total value of $144,730.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 3,441 shares of the company's stock, valued at $996,031.86. This trade represents a 17.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WAT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $363.00 price objective on shares of Waters in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Evercore raised shares of Waters from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $350.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Waters from $423.00 to $350.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Sunday, February 22nd. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Waters from $370.00 to $330.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Waters in a research note on Monday. Three 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $387.53.

Waters Company 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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