Natixis Has $7.97 Million Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Natixis boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 27.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,782 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,646 shares during the period. Natixis’ holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $7,971,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 18.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,884,345 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,348,471,000 after purchasing an additional 4,605,228 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,246,489 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,841,659,000 after acquiring an additional 2,170,219 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter worth about $509,904,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 4.4% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,783,238 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $406,715,000 after acquiring an additional 116,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.9% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,774,984 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $403,788,000 after acquiring an additional 25,127 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $126.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $163.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $163.00 to $151.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.06.

Insider Activity

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.28, for a total transaction of $1,999,200.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 49,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,595,494.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.28, for a total value of $1,999,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 49,486 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,595,494.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $254,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 25,185 shares in the company, valued at $3,274,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE A traded up $0.82 during trading on Thursday, reaching $134.98. 1,335,385 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,776,324. The firm has a market cap of $39.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $135.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $137.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.80 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 29th. The medical research company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.84% and a return on equity of 26.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.27 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 2nd were issued a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 2nd. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.22%.

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.