Grove Bank & Trust Has $529,000 Stock Position in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT)

Grove Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Waters Co. (NYSE:WAT) by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,469 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings in Waters were worth $529,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO acquired a new position in shares of Waters in the first quarter worth $25,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in Waters in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Waters during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Waters by 190.2% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 119 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waters by 19,900.0% in the 2nd quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 200 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Waters from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Waters from $325.00 to $363.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Waters in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $380.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Waters from $335.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Waters from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $355.00 to $415.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $335.64.

Waters Price Performance

Shares of Waters stock opened at $357.25 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.58, a PEG ratio of 6.93 and a beta of 0.95. Waters Co. has a 1-year low of $231.90 and a 1-year high of $367.21. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $340.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $324.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Waters (NYSE:WAT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The medical instruments supplier reported $2.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $709.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $700.09 million. Waters had a net margin of 20.71% and a return on equity of 56.81%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.80 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Waters Co. will post 11.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Waters Company Profile

Waters Corporation provides analytical workflow solutions in Asia, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through two segments: Waters and TA. The company designs, manufactures, sells, and services high and ultra-performance liquid chromatography, as well as mass spectrometry (MS) technology systems and support products, including chromatography columns, other consumable products, and post-warranty service plans.