Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) Short Interest Up 29.0% in March

Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 3,319,229 shares, a growth of 29.0% from the March 15th total of 2,573,341 shares. Currently, 3.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,080,237 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair started coverage on shares of Waters in a report on Monday, January 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Waters to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 8th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $440.00 price target on shares of Waters in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $363.00 price objective on shares of Waters in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $387.53.

Waters Price Performance

NYSE:WAT opened at $327.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.73. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $311.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $352.28. The company has a market cap of $32.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.20. Waters has a 52-week low of $275.05 and a 52-week high of $414.15.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.50 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $932.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $928.17 million. Waters had a return on equity of 34.79% and a net margin of 20.30%.Waters’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.10 earnings per share. Waters has set its FY 2026 guidance at 14.300-14.500 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 2.250-2.350 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Waters will post 12.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Wei Jiang purchased 500 shares of Waters stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $289.46 per share, with a total value of $144,730.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,441 shares in the company, valued at $996,031.86. The trade was a 17.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD acquired a new position in shares of Waters during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,397,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Waters by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 231,852 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $69,512,000 after acquiring an additional 25,182 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Waters by 543.8% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 37,244 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $14,146,000 after acquiring an additional 31,459 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Waters by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,656,891 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $2,295,612,000 after acquiring an additional 246,128 shares during the period. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new stake in Waters in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,677,000. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Waters Company Profile

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.