Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Acquires 3,293 Shares of Waters Corporation $WAT

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its holdings in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 329.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,294 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,293 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Waters were worth $1,631,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WAT. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Waters by 112.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,269 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $471,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Waters by 2.9% in the first 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 during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Waters by 3.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 200,051 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $73,733,000 after acquiring an additional 6,976 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Waters by 16.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,126 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $415,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Waters in the second quarter valued at about $232,000. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WAT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Waters in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waters in a research report on Monday, April 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Waters to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Waters from $355.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Waters from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $396.00.

Waters Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of WAT stock opened at $341.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.79. Waters Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $275.05 and a fifty-two week high of $414.15. The company has a market cap of $33.49 billion, a PE ratio of 43.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $316.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $351.61.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.39. Waters had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 11.91%.The company had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.25 EPS. Waters’s revenue for the quarter was up 91.4% on a year-over-year basis. 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 analysts predict that Waters Corporation will post 14.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Waters

In other news, Director Wei Jiang acquired 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $289.46 per share, with a total value of $144,730.00. Following the acquisition, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Waters 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.