Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 333,034 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $49,449,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC owned 0.12% of Agilent Technologies at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of A. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 114.8% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 189 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 68.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 234 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective 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. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Agilent Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $157.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $151.00 price target on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Monday, August 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $143.40.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of Agilent Technologies 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,801,595. The trade was a 19.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 2.0 %

A traded up $2.71 during trading on Friday, reaching $140.58. 1,298,025 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,115,917. The stock has a market cap of $40.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 1.07. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $137.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $136.97. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.16 and a twelve month high of $155.35.

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

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is 21.27%.

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.