Waters Corporation $WAT Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group cut its position in Waters by 2.5%, selling 3,489 shares and now holds 136,267 shares valued at about $51.76M, while overall institutional ownership remains high at 94.01%.
• Waters beat quarterly estimates with EPS $4.53 (vs. $4.50) and revenue $932.36M, issued FY2026 guidance of EPS 14.30–14.50, and carries a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average target of $387.53.
• Insider activity: Director Wei Jiang bought 500 shares at $289.46, bringing his holding to 3,441 shares; insiders collectively own 0.63% of the stock.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 136,267 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 3,489 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.23% of Waters worth $51,758,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD acquired a new position in shares of Waters during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,397,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Waters by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 231,852 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $69,512,000 after purchasing an additional 25,182 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Waters by 543.8% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 37,244 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $14,146,000 after purchasing an additional 31,459 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Waters by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,656,891 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $2,295,612,000 after purchasing an additional 246,128 shares during the period. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Waters during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,677,000. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WAT shares. William Blair started coverage on Waters in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Waters in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered Waters from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, February 8th. Evercore raised 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Waters from $423.00 to $350.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Sunday, February 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $387.53.

Waters Stock Performance

WAT opened at $326.56 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $32.06 billion, a PE ratio of 30.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $313.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $352.24. Waters Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $275.05 and a fifty-two week high of $414.15.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 9th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.50 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $932.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $928.17 million. Waters had a return on equity of 34.79% and a net margin of 20.30%.The company's revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.10 EPS. Waters has set its FY 2026 guidance at 14.300-14.500 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 2.250-2.350 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Waters Corporation will post 12.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Waters

In other Waters news, Director Wei Jiang bought 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $289.46 per share, with a total value of $144,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,031.86. This represents a 17.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Waters

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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