Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Boosts Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 116,493 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,284 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $17,297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $938,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 953.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 32,694 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,757,000 after acquiring an additional 29,590 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 26.2% in the 1st quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,770 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,168,000 after acquiring an additional 4,523 shares during the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,355,000. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,058,000.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $1,448,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,801,595. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $283,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 24,118 shares in the company, valued at $3,497,110. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $1,448,550.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,801,595. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,995 shares of company stock valued at $1,739,510 in the last three months.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $151.00 price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.36.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A stock opened at $140.41 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.37. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.09 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $139.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.18. The firm has a market cap of $40.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.13, a PEG ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 1.07.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.06. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.26% and a net margin of 21.75%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 19.50%.

About Agilent Technologies

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.