Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts give Waters a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating from 20 brokers (8 hold, 9 buy, 3 strong buy) with an average 12‑month target of $387.53, though several firms (Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo) recently cut targets while Citi and Barclays initiated coverage at $425 and $400 respectively.
• A company director, Wei Jiang, bought 500 shares at $289.46 on March 16, increasing their stake by 17%, while institutional investors own about 94.01% of the stock and insiders hold 0.31%.
• Waters beat last quarter's estimates (EPS $4.53 vs. $4.50; revenue $932.4M vs. $928.2M) and issued FY2026 EPS guidance of 14.30–14.50, roughly in line with the analyst consensus of 14.38 EPS.

Shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $387.5294.

A number of equities analysts have commented on WAT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Waters from $370.00 to $330.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Waters from $423.00 to $350.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Sunday, February 22nd. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Waters in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $425.00 price objective for the company. Barclays started coverage on shares of Waters in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $355.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 11th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Wei Jiang purchased 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $289.46 per share, for a total transaction of $144,730.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 3,441 shares of the company's stock, valued at $996,031.86. This trade represents a 17.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Waters

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WAT. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 112.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,269 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $471,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 1,048 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $386,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 200,051 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $73,733,000 after purchasing an additional 6,976 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Waters by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,126 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waters in the 2nd quarter valued at about $232,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company's stock.

Waters Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of Waters stock opened at $307.22 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $30.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.53, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.73. Waters has a one year low of $275.05 and a one year high of $414.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $309.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $351.75.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 9th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.50 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $932.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $928.17 million. Waters had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 34.79%. Waters's quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $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. On average, analysts forecast that Waters will post 14.38 earnings per share for the current year.

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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