Quest Partners LLC Purchases 5,300 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Quest Partners LLC raised its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 339.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,862 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,300 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC's holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,019,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in A. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 292,789 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $43,473,000 after acquiring an additional 8,874 shares during the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 50,306 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $7,469,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 15.7% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 113,991 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $16,926,000 after buying an additional 15,435 shares during the period. Archer Investment Corp bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter worth $288,000. 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 valued at $4,592,000 after buying an additional 7,111 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at $5,801,595. The trade was a 19.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $151.00 price target on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $157.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $144.36.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of A opened at $128.57 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $36.94 billion, a PE ratio of 26.67, a P/E/G ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $138.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.76. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $121.23 and a 52-week high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.43 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

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

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.