A vs WAT
Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A) and Waters Corp /de/ (WAT) are both filed with the SEC under Laboratory Analytical Instruments. A is 1.1× WAT's size by market cap ($44.5B against $41.4B); WAT trades at the higher fiscal-year P/E (39.2× against 34.5×); WAT reports the higher net margin (20.3% against 18.8%); WAT grew sales faster over three years (+2.1% against +0.5%); and over the past year WAT returned +39.3% against A's +24.1%.
| A | WAT | |
|---|---|---|
| Last close | $153.84 | $414.69 |
| Market cap | $44.5B | $41.4B |
| P/E (FY) | 34.5× | 39.2× |
| P/S | 6.4× | 13.1× |
| EV/EBITDA | 25.9× | — |
| Operating margin | 21.3% | 25.4% |
| Net margin | 18.8% | 20.3% |
| Return on equity | 20.6% | 29.3% |
| Sales growth (3y) | +0.5% | +2.1% |
| EPS growth (3y) | +3.0% | -2.8% |
| Dividend yield | 0.6% | — |
| 1-year return | +24.1% | +39.3% |
Screener snapshot — prices as of 2026-08-28. Each side's last close is the most recent session the snapshot holds for that company, which can be an earlier one, and its 1-year return is measured to that close. Market caps struck on 2026-08-27. Last close, market cap and the 1-year return are price figures; every other row is computed over the company's latest filed fiscal year, and the two differ: A FY2025 (ended 2025-10-31); WAT FY2025 (ended 2025-12-31). — not published for this company. A ratio goes unpublished for more than one reason: a component the calculation needs is not on file, the filing does not tag the line it is read from, or the calculation is not defined on the filed basis — EV/EBITDA is not printed on non-positive EBITDA, and return on equity is not computed on a zero or negative equity base.
Who holds them, and who has traded them
| A | WAT | |
|---|---|---|
| Institutional holders (13F) | 1,066 | 1,166 |
| Insider buyers − sellers (180d) | -1 | +2 |
| Congressional trades disclosed (180d) | 0 | 2 |
| Executive-branch officials on file — trades disclosed (180d) | 8 | 4 |
Counts only. The congressional figures count transactions dated in the trailing 180 days and disclosed in STOCK Act periodic transaction reports; amounts are filed as ranges and are never summed. The executive-branch figures count the same window of transactions, and they are scoped to one roster. The officials OGE posts for direct download. Insider buyers − sellers counts distinct people filing open-market Form 4 purchases minus distinct people filing open-market sales over the trailing 180 days, capped at ±5.
A vs WAT: common questions
- Is A bigger than WAT?
- A carries the larger market cap — $44.5B against $41.4B, both struck on 2026-08-27.
- Which trades at a higher P/E, A or WAT?
- WAT, at a fiscal-year 39.2× against 34.5× for A. Both are price ÷ latest full-year diluted earnings per share, not a trailing-twelve-month P/E.
- How have A and WAT performed over the past year?
- WAT returned +39.3% and A +24.1%, measured on the trailing calendar year to the last close.
- How many institutions hold A and WAT?
- 1,066 13F filers report a position in A and 1,166 in WAT, on the latest quarter in the panel.
- Are A and WAT in the same industry?
- Both are filed with the SEC under Laboratory Analytical Instruments, which is the classification this pairing is built on.
A overview → · WAT overview → · A institutional ownership → · WAT institutional ownership → · Congress and WAT → · Executive branch and A → · Executive branch and WAT →
More in Laboratory Analytical Instruments: A vs BIO · A vs ILMN · A vs RVTY · BIO vs ILMN
Stock comparisons lists every pair this site publishes.
Source: SPZCO — https://spzco.com/vs/a-vs-wat