Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Boosts Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,589,874 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 525,214 shares during the period. Agilent Technologies accounts for about 0.7% of Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 5.43% of Agilent Technologies worth $2,314,784,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 114.8% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 189 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 68.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 234 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of A opened at $128.57 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $36.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.67, a PEG ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $121.23 and a 12 month high of $155.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $138.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.76.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.06. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.26% and a net margin of 21.75%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.50%.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $1,448,550.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,801,595. The trade was a 19.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.36.

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.