Natixis Grows Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

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

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of A. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 18.2% during 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 buying an additional 4,605,228 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at about $509,904,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 19.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 262.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Group LP increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 28.3% during the fourth quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 2,116,862 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $294,307,000 after acquiring an additional 467,451 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on A. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $150.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 price target (down previously from $152.00) on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $126.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

A stock traded up $0.82 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $134.98. The stock had a trading volume of 1,335,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,776,324. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.80 and a 52-week high of $155.35. The company 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $135.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 2nd were given a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 2nd. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.22%.

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.