Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Purchases 4,507 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 82.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,986 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing 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.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Menard Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 4,845 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $628,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. McAdam LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 3.1% during the third quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 13.5% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 646 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,570 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rovin Capital UT ADV boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 5,049 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $750,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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, November 26th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $151.00 target price on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Citigroup boosted their target price 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. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.14.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A stock opened at $141.93 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $40.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.11, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.16 and a 52-week high of $155.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company’s 50 day moving average is $137.15 and its 200 day moving average is $136.60.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.43% and a net margin of 19.80%. The business had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 22.40%.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $1,448,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,801,595. This trade represents a 19.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.