Waters' (WAT) "Outperform" Rating Reiterated at Wolfe Research

Key Points

• Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating on Waters and set a $425 price target, implying about 12.7% upside from the stock’s current level.
• Waters’ recent earnings topped expectations, with Q1 EPS of $2.70 versus the $2.31 estimate and revenue of $1.27 billion versus the $1.20 billion forecast.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but generally constructive: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus, with an average target price of $392.76 across multiple recent ratings updates.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reissued by analysts at Wolfe Research in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $425.00 price objective on the medical instruments supplier's stock. Wolfe Research's target price points to a potential upside of 12.74% from the company's current price.

WAT has been the subject of several other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Waters in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Waters from $410.00 to $350.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird set a $387.00 target price on Waters in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays upped their target price on Waters from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Evercore raised Waters from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $350.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $392.76.

Waters Stock Performance

Waters stock opened at $376.97 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.90, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $325.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $350.93. Waters has a 52 week low of $275.05 and a 52 week high of $414.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Waters (NYSE:WAT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Waters had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 11.91%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 91.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.25 earnings per share. Waters has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.950-3.050 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 14.400-14.600 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Waters will post 14.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Waters

In other Waters news, Director Wei Jiang purchased 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $289.46 per share, for a total transaction of $144,730.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 3,441 shares in the company, valued at $996,031.86. The trade was a 17.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WAT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Waters by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,656,891 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $2,295,612,000 after buying an additional 246,128 shares during the last quarter. Fundsmith LLP lifted its holdings in Waters by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fundsmith LLP now owns 3,955,498 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $1,185,898,000 after buying an additional 347,091 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Waters by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,638,772 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $488,028,000 after buying an additional 348,379 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Waters by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,593,388 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $602,921,000 after buying an additional 8,590 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Waters by 32.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,472,419 shares of the medical instruments supplier's stock worth $441,446,000 after buying an additional 359,596 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company's stock.

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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