Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Acquires 5,450 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 26.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,103 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,450 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $3,876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the first quarter valued at about $938,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 10,790 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,570,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 19.1% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 205,854 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $29,955,000 after buying an additional 32,942 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 2.0% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 66,218 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $9,636,000 after acquiring an additional 1,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 64,331 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $9,361,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on A shares. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $151.00 price target on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $157.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Barclays raised their price target 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, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $144.36.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:A traded up $0.74 on Tuesday, hitting $134.60. The company had a trading volume of 426,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,699,501. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $139.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $138.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.77, a P/E/G ratio of 6.01 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $106.96 and a 1 year high of $155.35.

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

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is 19.50%.

Insider Activity

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $5,801,595. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $283,910.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 24,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,497,110. 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 ninety days.

Agilent Technologies 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.