Edgestream Partners L.P. Invests $2.20 Million in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 14,787 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,196,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of A. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 953.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 32,694 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,757,000 after acquiring an additional 29,590 shares during the period. Marshall Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the second quarter worth approximately $1,058,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.6% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $442,011,000 after purchasing an additional 183,716 shares during the period. AXA S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 32.3% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 362,945 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $47,049,000 after buying an additional 88,667 shares during the period. Finally, Vestal Point Capital LP acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth approximately $14,848,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $1,448,550.00. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America lifted 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. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 price target for the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped 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 report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.40.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE:A opened at $139.60 on Tuesday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $124.16 and a one year high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $40.11 billion, a PE ratio of 31.58, a P/E/G ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $137.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.15.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.40%.

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.