Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Waters Corporation $WAT

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,806 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,066,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 worth $2,295,612,000 after purchasing an additional 246,128 shares in the last quarter. Fundsmith LLP lifted its stake in shares of Waters by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fundsmith LLP now owns 3,955,498 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $1,185,898,000 after purchasing an additional 347,091 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Waters by 225.5% in the third quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,551,010 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $465,008,000 after acquiring an additional 1,074,449 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Waters by 32.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,472,419 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $441,446,000 after acquiring an additional 359,596 shares during the period. Finally, Fundsmith Investment Services LTD. raised its stake in Waters by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fundsmith Investment Services LTD. now owns 1,356,289 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $406,629,000 after acquiring an additional 135,504 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on WAT. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $440.00 price target on shares of Waters in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Waters in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $425.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Waters from $345.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waters in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $396.00.

Waters Price Performance

Waters stock opened at $367.28 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $36.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.67, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $321.97 and its 200 day moving average is $350.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Waters Corporation has a 52-week low of $275.05 and a 52-week high of $414.15.

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

Insider Transactions at Waters

In other Waters news, Director Wei Jiang purchased 500 shares of the firm’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 completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 3,441 shares in the company, valued at $996,031.86. This trade represents a 17.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.