Fmr LLC Purchases 493,947 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

FMR LLC raised its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 62.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,287,665 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 493,947 shares during the period. FMR LLC owned approximately 0.45% of Agilent Technologies worth $191,193,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 29,590 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,058,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $442,011,000 after acquiring an additional 183,716 shares during the period. AXA S.A. raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 32.3% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 362,945 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $47,049,000 after acquiring an additional 88,667 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,978 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $4,592,000 after buying an additional 7,111 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $143.40.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE A traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $139.41. 653,346 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,723,494. The firm has a market cap of $40.06 billion, a PE ratio of 31.58, a PEG ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 1.07. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $137.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $137.15. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.16 and a 12 month high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.09.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. This is a boost from Agilent Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is currently 21.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the business'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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,801,595. The trade was a 19.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

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.