Waters Corporation $WAT Shares Sold by Envestnet Asset Management Inc.

Key Points

• Envestnet Asset Management reduced its Waters stake by 6.0%, selling 7,114 shares and retaining 112,356 shares valued at approximately $42.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 94.01% of Waters’ outstanding stock.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with Waters holding a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $434.60. UBS upgraded the stock to “Buy,” while Goldman Sachs raised its target to $515.
• Waters reported quarterly EPS of $3.05, topping estimates of $3.01, while revenue reached $1.65 billion versus the $1.62 billion consensus. Shares opened at $433.97, near the company’s 52-week high of $436.34.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) by 6.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 112,356 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 7,114 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned 0.11% of Waters worth $42,138,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WAT. Pilgrim Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Waters during the 2nd quarter worth $466,131,171,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Waters during the 2nd quarter worth $3,182,191,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,382,008 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $1,643,428,000 after purchasing an additional 19,998 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waters in the 2nd quarter valued at about $623,921,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 27.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 348,379 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on WAT shares. UBS Group raised shares of Waters from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $375.00 to $490.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Waters from $425.00 to $460.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Waters from $425.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Waters from $465.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $420.00 price objective on shares of Waters in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waters presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $434.60.

Insider Activity

In other Waters news, Director Christopher Kuebler sold 3,626 shares of the 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 sale, the director owned 17,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,086,515.52. This represents a 16.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Waters Stock Performance

NYSE:WAT opened at $433.97 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $42.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 108.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $404.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $362.02. Waters Corporation has a twelve month low of $282.77 and a twelve month high of $436.34.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.01 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for 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 prior year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. 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, research analysts expect that Waters Corporation will post 14.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Waters Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.