M&G Plc Increases Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

M&G Plc increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 0.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 274,738 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 973 shares during the period. M&G Plc owned 0.10% of Agilent Technologies worth $40,661,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth $28,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the second quarter worth $29,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 68.3% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 234 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies during the second quarter valued at $39,000. 87.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on A shares. 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 report on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $151.00 price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, August 26th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.36.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $137.78 on Thursday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $104.09 and a 12-month high of $155.35. The stock has a market cap of $39.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.59, a PEG ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $139.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a $0.236 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $283,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 24,118 shares in the company, valued at $3,497,110. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $283,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 24,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,497,110. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,995 shares of company stock worth $1,739,510 over the last 90 days. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Agilent Technologies Company 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.