iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A – Free Report) by 82.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,650 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,050 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,750,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hollencrest Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 562.5% during the second quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 212 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Clearstead Trust LLC purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 79.6% in the 2nd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 273 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research firms recently commented on A. TheStreet upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, December 8th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $132.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. StockNews.com raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $128.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.31.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total transaction of $719,372.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 21,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,178,021. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 4,828 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.00, for a total transaction of $719,372.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,178,021. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Henrik Ancher-Jensen sold 26,331 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.36, for a total transaction of $3,643,157.16. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 82,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,415,253.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 39,948 shares of company stock worth $5,568,576.
Agilent Technologies Trading Down 1.0 %
Shares of A stock opened at $147.87 on Friday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $96.80 and a 1-year high of $151.58. The company has a market cap of $43.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.21, a PEG ratio of 4.53 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.04. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $134.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.76.
Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.07. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 27.09%. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be paid a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.38%.
Agilent Technologies Company Profile
Agilent Technologies, Inc provides application focused solutions to the life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Life Sciences and Applied Markets, Diagnostics and Genomics, and Agilent CrossLab. The Life Sciences and Applied Markets segment offers liquid chromatography systems and components; liquid chromatography mass spectrometry systems; gas chromatography systems and components; gas chromatography mass spectrometry systems; inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry instruments; atomic absorption instruments; microwave plasma-atomic emission spectrometry instruments; inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry instruments; raman spectroscopy; cell analysis plate based assays; flow cytometer; real-time cell analyzer; cell imaging systems; microplate reader; laboratory software; information management and analytics; laboratory automation and robotic systems; dissolution testing; and vacuum pumps, and measurement technologies.
See Also
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat’s editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
Before you consider Agilent Technologies, you’ll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street’s top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on… and Agilent Technologies wasn’t on the list.
While Agilent Technologies currently has a “Moderate Buy” rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
Just getting into the stock market? These 10 simple stocks can help beginning investors build long-term wealth without knowing options, technicals, or other advanced strategies.