Waters Corporation $WAT Stock Sold by Investment House LLC

Key Points

• Investment House LLC cut its Waters position by 62.9% in the third quarter, selling 8,906 shares and retaining 5,257 shares valued at approximately $2.31 million.
• Institutional investors own 94.01% of Waters, with State Street modestly increasing its stake and Wellington Management raising its position by 69.2% during the second quarter.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $443.79. Waters recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, while its shares opened at $455.89 near their 12-month high.

Investment House LLC trimmed its holdings in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT - Free Report) by 62.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,257 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock after selling 8,906 shares during the quarter. Investment House LLC's holdings in Waters were worth $2,310,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Pilgrim Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Waters in the 2nd quarter valued at $466,131,171,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Waters in the second quarter worth $3,182,191,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in Waters by 0.5% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,382,008 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,643,428,000 after purchasing an additional 19,998 shares during the period. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in Waters in the second quarter worth $623,921,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position 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 worth $514,986,000 after purchasing an additional 561,824 shares during the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WAT shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 target price on shares of Waters in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Waters from $370.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Waters from $435.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Waters in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Waters from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $443.79.

Insider Activity at Waters

In other news, Director Christopher Kuebler sold 3,626 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,086,515.52. This represents a 16.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Waters Price Performance

WAT opened at $455.89 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 113.69, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.15. 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 Corporation has a 12-month low of $282.77 and a 12-month high of $465.36. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $423.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $380.89.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.01 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. Waters had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 3.58%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 113.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $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. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Waters Corporation will post 14.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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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