Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Bought by National Pension Service

National Pension Service grew its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 702,631 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 68,670 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned 0.24% of Agilent Technologies worth $104,327,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 18.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,884,345 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $4,348,471,000 after purchasing an additional 4,605,228 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,042,926 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 5.7% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,064,660 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,952,832,000 after acquiring an additional 809,149 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the first quarter worth $61,218,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 48.6% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 957,128 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $124,073,000 after purchasing an additional 313,155 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on A. Evercore ISI boosted their target price 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. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" 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 research report on Monday, August 26th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. One research 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.com, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $144.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $283,910.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,497,110. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $283,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,118 shares in the company, valued at $3,497,110. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,801,595. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,995 shares of company stock worth $1,739,510 over the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE A traded up $0.76 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $140.41. The company had a trading volume of 1,171,332 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,681,128. The company has a market capitalization of $40.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.97, a PEG ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $139.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $138.13. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $104.09 and a 12-month high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 21.75% and a return on equity of 25.26%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio is 19.50%.

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.