Waters (WAT) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

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. Through its TA Instruments business, Waters also provides thermal analysis, rheology and other materials characterization systems used to evaluate the physical properties of materials.

Founded in 1958 by James L. Waters and headquartered in Milford, Massachusetts, Waters serves customers through operations and distribution networks across North America, Europe, Asia and other international markets. Its instruments and related services support applications such as pharmaceutical research and quality control, biopharmaceutical development, chemical analysis and materials testing.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $449.85 to $461.55
• 50-Day Range: $401.78 to $458.74
• 52-Week Range: $282.77 to $465.36
• Volume: 909,148 shs
• Average Volume: 893,699 shs
• Market Capitalization: $44.82 billion
• P/E Ratio: 113.76
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Price Target: $457.50
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

Waters Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Waters scored higher than 67% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 503rd out of 907 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: 2.4 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy

Consensus Rating

Waters has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.75, and is based on 1 strong buy rating, 16 buy ratings, 7 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 17 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.3 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 13.74%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Waters are expected to grow by 13.74% in the coming year, from $14.56 to $16.56 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Waters is 113.76, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 25.87.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Waters is 113.76, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the Healthcare sector average P/E ratio of about 34.71.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

Waters has a PEG Ratio of 2.64. 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 10.61. P/B Ratios above 3 indicate that a company could be overvalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 5.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

3.26% 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 3.4, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Waters has recently decreased by 6.25%, 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: 4.2 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.76

News Sentiment

Waters has a news sentiment score of 0.76. 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 higher news sentiment than the 0.60 average news sentiment score of Healthcare companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 22 news articles for Waters this week, compared to 7 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

10 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

5 people have added Waters to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 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: 10/27/2026
• 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: $457.50
• High Price Target: $515.00
• Low Price Target: $380.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +0.3%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.75
• Research Coverage: 24 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $4.01
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 113.76
• Forward P/E Ratio: 31.33
• P/E Growth: 2.64
• 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: 14.16
• Cash Flow: $16.72 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 27.28
• Book Value: $43.01 per share
• Price / Book: 10.61

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 98,250,000
• Free Float: 97,943,000
• Market Cap: $44.82 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 1.15