Waters (NYSE:WAT) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday. The stock traded as high as $454.54 and last traded at $444.9030, with a volume of 52745 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $440.12.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen upgraded Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $408.00 to $475.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $430.00 price target on shares of Waters in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 price target on shares of Waters in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Waters from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $400.00 to $480.00 in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Waters in a research report on Friday, June 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $435.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $441.68.

Waters Stock Down 0.2%

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $414.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $370.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 108.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.86.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.01 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.62 billion. Waters had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 3.58%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 113.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. Waters has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.950-4.050 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 14.450-14.650 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Waters Corporation will post 14.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Waters

In other news, Director Christopher Kuebler sold 3,626 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $397.94, for a total value of $1,442,930.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 17,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,086,515.52. This trade represents a 16.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Waters

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pilgrim Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Waters during the second quarter valued at about $466,131,171,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Waters during the second quarter valued at $3,182,191,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waters in the 2nd quarter valued at about $623,921,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Waters by 69.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,373,150 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $514,986,000 after buying an additional 561,824 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Waters by 2,281.7% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 538,713 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $204,619,000 after purchasing an additional 516,094 shares in the last quarter. 94.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Waters Company Profile

Waters Corporation (NYSE: WAT) develops and manufactures analytical workflow solutions used to measure, characterize and separate chemical and biological materials. Its customers include pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic and government laboratories, and organizations in the industrial, food, environmental and other applied markets.

The company’s portfolio includes high-performance liquid chromatography and ultra-performance liquid chromatography systems, mass spectrometry instruments, chromatography columns and other laboratory consumables.