Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

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The Company’s common stock is registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “WAT”. As of February 19, 2021, the Company had 78 common stockholders of record. The Company has not declared or paid any dividends on its common stock in its past three fiscal years and does not intend to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any future determination to pay cash dividends will be made at the discretion of the Board of Directors and will depend on restrictions and other factors the Board of Directors may deem relevant. The Company has not made any sales of unregistered equity securities in the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 or 2018.

Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans

Equity compensation plan information is incorporated by reference from Part III, Item 12, Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters, of this document and should be considered an integral part of this Item 5.

Stock Price Performance Graph

The following performance graph and related information shall not be deemed to be “soliciting material” or to be “filed” with the SEC, nor shall such information be incorporated by reference into any future filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except to the extent that the Company specifically incorporates it by reference into such filing.

The following graph compares the cumulative total return on $100 invested as of December 31, 2015 (the last day of public trading of the Company’s common stock in fiscal year 2015) through December 31, 2020 (the last day of public trading of the common stock in fiscal year 2020) in the Company’s common stock, the NYSE Market Index, the SIC Code 3826 Index and the S&P 500 Index. The return of the indices is calculated assuming reinvestment of dividends during the period presented. The Company has not paid any dividends since its IPO. The stock price performance shown on the graph below is not necessarily indicative of future price performance.

COMPARISON OF CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN SINCE DECEMBER 31, 2015

AMONG WATERS CORPORATION, NYSE MARKET INDEX, SIC CODE 3826 INDEX – LABORATORY ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTS AND S&P 500 INDEX


	2015		2016		2017		2018		2019		2020
WATERS CORPORATION		100.00		99.86		143.55		140.18		173.61		183.85
NYSE MARKET INDEX		100.00		111.94		132.90		121.01		151.87		162.49
SIC CODE INDEX		100.00		111.96		136.40		130.42		171.49		203.04
S&P 500 INDEX		100.00		92.16		141.00		148.46		185.11		229.68

Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer

The following table provides information about purchases by the Company during the three months ended December 31, 2020 of equity securities registered by the Company under the Exchange Act (in thousands, except per share data):


Period	Total Number of Shares Purchased (1)		Average Price Paid per Share		Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Programs		Maximum Dollar Value of Shares that May Yet Be Purchased Under the Programs (2)
September 27, 2020 to October 24, 2020		—	$	—		—	$	1,524,905
October 25, 2020 to November 21, 2020		—	$	—		—	$	1,524,905
November 22, 2020 to December 31, 2020		—	$	—		—	$	1,524,905

Total		—	$	—		—	$	1,524,905

(1)	The Company repurchased less than one thousand shares of common stock at a cost of less than $1 million related to the vesting of restricted stock during the three months ended December 31, 2020.

(2)

In January 2019, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized the Company to repurchase up to $4 billion of its outstanding common stock in open market or private transactions over a two-year period. This new program replaced the remaining amounts available under the pre-existing authorization. During the second quarter of 2020, the Company temporarily suspended its share repurchases due to the uncertain business conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In December 2020, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized the extension of the share repurchase program through January 21, 2023.

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