Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Invests $362,000 in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,696 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $362,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,589,874 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,314,784,000 after acquiring an additional 525,214 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,819,897 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,903,498,000 after purchasing an additional 158,175 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,948,679 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,028,241,000 after acquiring an additional 30,610 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,198,715 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $431,603,000 after acquiring an additional 80,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 6.6% in 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 buying an additional 183,716 shares in the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Agilent Technologies stock traded up $2.85 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $147.57. 3,210,301 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,687,779. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $136.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.05. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.16 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.15 billion, a PE ratio of 33.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.06. 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 (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 25.43%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 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 dividend of $0.248 per share. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $143.62.

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.