Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Boosts Position in Waters Corporation $WAT

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 23.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,283 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after buying an additional 1,575 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Waters were worth $3,146,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WAT. Brighton Jones LLC grew 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 buying an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted 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 worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 worth $73,733,000 after purchasing an additional 6,976 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Waters by 16.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,126 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Waters in the second quarter worth $232,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore raised shares of Waters from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. Bank of America cut their target price on Waters from $410.00 to $350.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Barclays raised their target price on Waters from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird set a $387.00 target price on Waters in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Waters in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $425.00 target price on the stock. Three 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $395.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waters news, Director Wei Jiang purchased 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $289.46 per share, for a total transaction of $144,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,441 shares in the company, valued at $996,031.86. The trade was a 17.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WAT opened at $355.12 on Friday. Waters Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $275.05 and a fifty-two week high of $414.15. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $310.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $352.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $34.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.14.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.39. Waters had a net margin of 11.91% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.25 earnings per share. Waters’s revenue for the quarter was up 91.4% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 expect that Waters Corporation will post 14.49 EPS for the current year.

About Waters

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.