Alliancebernstein L.P. Trims Holdings in Waters Corporation $WAT

Alliancebernstein L.P. trimmed its holdings in shares of Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) by 48.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,084,443 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after selling 1,936,915 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 3.50% of Waters worth $624,937,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD bought a new position in Waters in the third quarter worth approximately $1,397,000. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Waters in the 3rd quarter worth $4,677,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Waters by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,656,891 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $2,295,612,000 after buying an additional 246,128 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Waters by 12.2% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 231,852 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $69,512,000 after buying an additional 25,182 shares during the period. Finally, Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Waters in the third quarter valued at about $175,320,000. 94.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on WAT. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Waters from $415.00 to $355.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Waters from $410.00 to $350.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Waters from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Waters in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of Waters in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $400.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Waters has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $393.84.

Waters Stock Performance

Shares of Waters stock opened at $286.42 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.10 billion, a PE ratio of 26.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $352.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $351.19. Waters Corporation has a one year low of $275.05 and a one year high of $414.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.73.

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