Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Increases Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 82.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,986 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 4,507 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd's holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 809,149 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 493,947 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth about $49,449,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of 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. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 63.3% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 586,439 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $87,075,000 after purchasing an additional 227,431 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.42% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen increased 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $143.14.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 0.5 %

A traded down $0.71 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $141.22. The company had a trading volume of 1,848,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,724,702. The stock has a market cap of $40.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.94, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.54. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $124.16 and a 52 week high of $155.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

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

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.40%.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,801,595. This trade represents a 19.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

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.