Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 18,414 Shares of Waters Corporation $WAT

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its stake in Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 39.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,828 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 18,414 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Waters were worth $10,950,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WAT. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Waters in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd bought a new stake in Waters in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in Waters by 115.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 112 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new stake in Waters during the second quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Waters by 510.3% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 177 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC started coverage on shares of Waters in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $460.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Waters from $423.00 to $350.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Sunday, February 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $440.00 target price on shares of Waters in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Waters from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $394.63.

Waters Stock Down 3.7%

Shares of WAT opened at $289.38 on Friday. Waters Corporation has a 1 year low of $275.05 and a 1 year high of $414.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $333.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $350.70. The firm has a market cap of $28.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.20.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The medical instruments supplier reported $4.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.50 by $0.03. Waters had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 34.79%. The firm had revenue of $932.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $928.17 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Waters has set its FY 2026 guidance at 14.300-14.500 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 2.250-2.350 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Waters Corporation will post 12.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Waters

In related news, Director Wei Jiang purchased 500 shares of Waters stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $289.46 per share, for a total transaction of $144,730.00. Following the transaction, the director directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.