Jennison Associates LLC Acquires 227,431 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 63.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 586,439 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 227,431 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned 0.20% of Agilent Technologies worth $87,075,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 13.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,542,054 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,242,956,000 after buying an additional 1,042,926 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,064,660 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,952,832,000 after acquiring an additional 809,149 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 48.6% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 957,128 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $124,073,000 after acquiring an additional 313,155 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,667,616 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $396,088,000 after purchasing an additional 203,234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted 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 worth $442,011,000 after purchasing an additional 183,716 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE A opened at $130.00 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $37.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $123.48 and a 12-month high of $155.35. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $138.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.76.

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

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.50%.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $1,448,550.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 40,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,801,595. This trade represents a 19.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. 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 research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Stifel Nicolaus restated a "buy" rating and set a $151.00 price target on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, August 26th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One research 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $144.36.

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.