Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,160 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $618,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 953.3% in the first 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 period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 26.2% in the first 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 period. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,355,000. Marshall Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,058,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 6.6% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $442,011,000 after purchasing an additional 183,716 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE A opened at $133.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.46 billion, a PE ratio of 27.77, a PEG ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $123.48 and a 1 year high of $155.35. The business’s 50-day moving average is $137.90 and its 200 day moving average is $137.65.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.26% and a net margin of 21.75%. Agilent Technologies’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on A shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $151.00 price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, August 26th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,801,595. The trade was a 19.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.