Impax Asset Management Group plc Has $319.46 Million Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 8.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,464,382 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 193,012 shares during the period. Agilent Technologies accounts for 1.3% of Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Impax Asset Management Group plc owned 0.84% of Agilent Technologies worth $319,458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 18.2% in the first 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 last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $509,904,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 2,170,219 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 262.1% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,292,929 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $318,786,000 after acquiring an additional 1,659,768 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,042,926 shares during the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. 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. Wolfe Research cut shares of Agilent Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $147.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.60.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock traded up $1.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $139.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 32,131 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,726,737. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.37. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.80 and a 52 week high of $155.35. The stock has a market cap of $40.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.63 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $135.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $139.01.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 21.75% and a return on equity of 25.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.43 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

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 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 accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $283,910.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 24,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,497,110. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Dominique Grau sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.28, for a total transaction 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,916 shares of company stock valued at $2,557,230. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.