Madison Asset Management LLC Lowers Stake in Waters Corporation $WAT

Madison Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 7.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 272,649 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 20,515 shares during the period. Waters comprises about 1.0% of Madison Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Madison Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Waters were worth $81,195,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Waters in the first quarter valued at $617,000. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. acquired a new position in Waters during the 1st quarter worth about $6,354,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Waters by 19.4% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,924 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $573,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Waters by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 1,632 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $486,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Waters by 60.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 814,716 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $242,599,000 after acquiring an additional 307,941 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WAT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Waters in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. HSBC upped their target price on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Waters in a report on Friday, June 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $435.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Waters from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Waters currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $401.60.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of WAT opened at $357.29 on Tuesday. Waters Corporation has a 1 year low of $275.05 and a 1 year high of $414.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.08 billion, a PE ratio of 45.40, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.79. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $362.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $346.08.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Waters had a net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 15.60%. 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 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. On average, analysts predict that Waters Corporation will post 14.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.