Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Bought by Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 82.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,986 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,507 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in A. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,589,874 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,314,784,000 after buying an additional 525,214 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 1.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,819,897 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,903,498,000 after acquiring an additional 158,175 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $442,011,000 after purchasing an additional 183,716 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,948,536 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $437,799,000 after purchasing an additional 136,184 shares during the period. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,667,616 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $396,088,000 after purchasing an additional 203,234 shares in the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were 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 is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of A opened at $141.93 on Wednesday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.16 and a 52-week high of $155.35. The stock has a market cap of $40.78 billion, a PE ratio of 32.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $137.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.60. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.38 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. TD Cowen raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $151.00 price target on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, August 26th. UBS Group increased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.14.

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.