Handelsbanken Fonder AB Purchases 10,636 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 8.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 143,215 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,636 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $19,240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in A. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $442,011,000 after acquiring an additional 183,716 shares in the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $14,848,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 29.8% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,978 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,592,000 after acquiring an additional 7,111 shares in the last quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 42,587 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,721,000 after acquiring an additional 4,805 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 702,631 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $104,327,000 after acquiring an additional 68,670 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of A stock opened at $135.33 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $140.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $139.29. 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 has a market capitalization of $38.61 billion, a PE ratio of 30.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $124.16 and a 12-month high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 25.43%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is 22.40%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,947,800. The trade was a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on A shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut 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, November 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.38.

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.