OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Buys 5,561 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 265,954 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,561 shares during the period. Agilent Technologies makes up about 1.0% of OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd owned about 0.09% of Agilent Technologies worth $35,728,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter worth about $499,000. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 15.7% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 113,991 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $16,926,000 after buying an additional 15,435 shares during the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.3% in the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 50,306 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,469,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 292,789 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $43,473,000 after buying an additional 8,874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 339.3% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,862 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,019,000 after purchasing an additional 5,300 shares during the period.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total value of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at $2,657,456.28. The trade was a 8.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays raised shares of Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $146.15.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE:A opened at $123.10 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $35.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 1.11. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $117.17 and a twelve month high of $155.35. The company has a 50-day moving average of $137.70 and a 200-day moving average of $137.68. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. Analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 22.76%.

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.