California State Teachers Retirement System Increases Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 475,029 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 5,543 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.16% of Agilent Technologies worth $69,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4,605,228 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $509,904,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $1,841,659,000 after purchasing an additional 2,170,219 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 262.1% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,292,929 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $318,786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659,768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 13.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,542,054 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,242,956,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042,926 shares in the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock traded up $2.50 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $143.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 76,166 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,763,537. The stock has a market cap of $41.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.44, a P/E/G ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $133.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $137.77. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $96.80 and a one year high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 2.15 and a quick ratio of 1.64.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.84% and a return on equity of 26.25%. The company had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. Agilent Technologies’s revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 2nd. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $274,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 26,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,650,640. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $274,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 26,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,650,640. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Dominique Grau sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,595,494.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,916 shares of company stock worth $2,527,860 over the last 90 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on A. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Agilent Technologies from $163.00 to $151.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $141.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $153.00 price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 target price (down previously from $152.00) on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.06.

Agilent Technologies Company 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.