Waters Corporation $WAT Shares Newly Acquired by Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P.

Key Points

• Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors acquired 31,130 Waters shares worth approximately $13.7 million during the third quarter. Institutional investors collectively own about 94% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $443.79; TD Cowen and Guggenheim recently raised their targets to $515 and $490, respectively.
• Waters shares opened at $458.74, near their 52-week high, while the company reported quarterly revenue of $1.65 billion and adjusted earnings of $3.05 per share, both ahead of expectations.

Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. purchased a new position in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 31,130 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock, valued at approximately $13,678,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pilgrim Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Waters in the 2nd quarter valued at about $466,131,171,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Waters during the second quarter worth approximately $3,182,191,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Waters by 0.5% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,382,008 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,643,428,000 after acquiring an additional 19,998 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in shares of Waters during the second quarter valued at approximately $623,921,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Waters by 27.0% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,638,772 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $488,028,000 after acquiring an additional 348,379 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WAT. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Waters from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Waters from $440.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered Waters from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday. Morgan Stanley set a $430.00 target price on Waters in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Waters from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $443.79.

Waters Trading Up 3.6%

NYSE:WAT opened at $458.74 on Thursday. Waters Corporation has a one year low of $282.77 and a one year high of $459.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.86. The firm has a market cap of $45.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 114.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $422.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $379.82.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.01 by $0.04. The firm 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 company's revenue was up 113.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $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. Equities analysts anticipate that Waters Corporation will post 14.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Waters news, Director Christopher Kuebler sold 3,626 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Waters

Waters Corporation NYSE: WAT develops and manufactures analytical technologies used to measure, identify and characterize chemical and biological substances. Its customers include pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, industrial manufacturers, academic and government laboratories, and organizations involved in food, environmental and clinical testing.

The company's product portfolio includes high-performance liquid chromatography and ultra-performance liquid chromatography systems, mass spectrometers, chromatography columns and consumables, and laboratory software for data management and analysis.

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