Waters Corporation $WAT Stock: Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Grows Position

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 61,273 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,750 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in Waters were worth $26,923,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pilgrim Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Waters in the second quarter valued at about $466,131,171,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Waters in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,182,191,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in shares of Waters in the second quarter worth approximately $623,921,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Waters by 69.2% in the second 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 last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Waters during the second quarter valued at approximately $188,725,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Waters Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:WAT opened at $453.42 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $424.37 and a 200 day moving average of $381.40. The company has a market cap of $44.55 billion, a PE ratio of 113.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.15. Waters Corporation has a 12-month low of $282.77 and a 12-month high of $465.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.01 by $0.04. Waters had a net margin of 3.58% and a return on equity of 11.27%. The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 113.3% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 research analysts expect that Waters Corporation will post 14.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Waters news, Director Christopher Kuebler sold 3,626 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director directly owned 17,808 shares in the company, valued at $7,086,515.52. This represents a 16.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on WAT shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $420.00 target price on shares of Waters in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Waters in a research note on Friday, June 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $435.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Waters from $425.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Waters from $465.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on Waters from $440.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Two research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $443.79.

About Waters

Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) develops and manufactures analytical technologies used to measure, identify and characterize chemical and biological substances. Its customers include pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, industrial manufacturers, academic and government laboratories, and organizations involved in food, environmental and clinical testing.

The company’s product portfolio includes high-performance liquid chromatography and ultra-performance liquid chromatography systems, mass spectrometers, chromatography columns and consumables, and laboratory software for data management and analysis.