Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Shares Purchased by Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 646 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $96,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 47.9% during the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,281 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $768,000 after purchasing an additional 1,711 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 58.2% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 17,447 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,540,000 after buying an additional 6,420 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 1st quarter worth approximately $22,588,000. Atria Investments Inc increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 26.6% during the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 11,841 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,723,000 after buying an additional 2,491 shares during the period. Finally, PGGM Investments lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 10.9% in the first quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 27,431 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,991,000 after buying an additional 2,699 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $138.14 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $137.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.44. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $124.10 and a 12-month high of $155.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $39.69 billion, a PE ratio of 28.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 1.07.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.248 dividend. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of Agilent Technologies 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,801,595. The trade was a 19.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on A shares. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com cut shares of Agilent Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.40.

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.