Waters (WAT) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

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. These products support applications such as pharmaceutical research and quality control, biopharmaceutical development, food and environmental testing, materials analysis and clinical research.

Founded in 1958 by James L. Waters, the company is headquartered in Milford, Massachusetts. Waters serves customers internationally through operations and distribution networks across North America, Europe, Asia and other regions. Christopher O’Connell serves as the company’s president and chief executive officer.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $403.77 to $410.11
• 50-Day Range: $357.29 to $420.35
• 52-Week Range: $282.77 to $426.22
• Volume: 487,158 shs
• Average Volume: 603,498 shs
• Market Capitalization: $40.09 billion
• P/E Ratio: 101.75
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Price Target: $430.10
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

Waters Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Waters scored higher than 70% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 296th out of 904 stocks in the healthcare sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 2.9 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy

Consensus Rating

Waters has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.85, and is based on 3 strong buy ratings, 11 buy ratings, 6 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Upside/Downside

The consensus price target for Waters is close to its current price, suggesting limited near-term upside or downside.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Waters has been the subject of 14 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.9 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 13.32%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Waters are expected to grow by 13.32% in the coming year, from $14.56 to $16.50 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Waters is 101.75, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 44.89.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Waters is 101.75, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Healthcare sector average P/E ratio of about 274.94.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

Waters has a PEG Ratio of 2.38. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Waters has a P/B Ratio of 9.49. P/B Ratios above 3 indicate that a company could be overvalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 4.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

3.36% of the float of Waters has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Waters has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 4.53.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Waters has recently decreased by 9.40%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 0.0 / 5
• Dividend Strength: N/A

Dividend Yield

Waters does not currently pay a dividend.

Dividend Growth

Waters does not have a long track record of dividend growth.

News and Social Media

• Score: 3.6 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.70

News Sentiment

Waters has a news sentiment score of 0.70. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a lower news sentiment than the 0.88 average news sentiment score of Healthcare companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 20 news articles for Waters this week, compared to 9 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

5 people have searched for WAT on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 25% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

4 people have added Waters to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 300% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 1.4 / 5
• Insider Trading: Selling Shares

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Waters insiders have sold more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought $0.00 in company stock and sold $1,442,930.00 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

0.31% of the stock of Waters is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

94.01% of the stock of Waters is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 8/04/2026
• Today: 9/12/2026
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 11/03/2026
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2026

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NYSE
• Sector: Healthcare
• Industry: Life Sciences Tools & Services
• Sub-Industry: Life Sciences Tools & Services
• Current Symbol: NYSE:WAT
• CIK: 1000697
• Web: www.waters.com
• Phone: (508) 478-2000
• Fax: 508-872-1990
• Employees: 7,900
• Year Founded: 1958

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Waters: $430.10
• High Price Target: $490.00
• Low Price Target: $345.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +5.4%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.85
• Research Coverage: 20 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $4.01
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 101.75
• Forward P/E Ratio: 28.02
• P/E Growth: 2.38
• Net Income: $642.63 million
• Net Margins: 3.58%
• Pretax Margin: 4.41%
• Return on Equity: 11.27%
• Return on Assets: 6.73%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.32
• Current Ratio: 1.86
• Quick Ratio: 1.29

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $3.17 billion
• Price / Sales: 12.66
• Cash Flow: $16.61 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 24.56
• Book Value: $43.01 per share
• Price / Book: 9.49

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 98,250,000
• Free Float: 97,943,000
• Market Cap: $40.09 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 1.19