SGL Investment Advisors Inc. Takes $536,000 Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

SGL Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,612 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $536,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 5.7% in the second 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 purchasing an additional 809,149 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 62.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,287,665 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $191,193,000 after buying an additional 493,947 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at about $49,449,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 313,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 63.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 586,439 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $87,075,000 after acquiring an additional 227,431 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on A shares. UBS Group raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Barclays dropped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America upped their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Agilent Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $143.14.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 2.6 %

NYSE A traded up $3.59 during trading on Monday, hitting $144.17. The company had a trading volume of 869,202 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,724,569. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $124.16 and a one year high of $155.35. The company has a market cap of $41.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company's fifty day moving average is $137.23 and its 200-day moving average is $136.64. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 25.43%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.38 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.27%.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

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

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.