Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 2,560 Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,560 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $354,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Natixis Investment Managers International raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Investment Managers International now owns 3,245 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $486,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. First Command Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 19.4% in the first quarter. First Command Financial Services Inc. now owns 461 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 0.3% in the first quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,698 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,417,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 9.4% during the first quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 892 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $123,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, JGP Global Gestao de Recursos Ltda. boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. JGP Global Gestao de Recursos Ltda. now owns 2,702 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on A. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 16th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $124.00 to $120.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 24th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 15th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $164.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $148.12.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $115.91 on Monday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.00 and a 12-month high of $160.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $121.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $126.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.34, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.03.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 15th. The medical research company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.66 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 16.20% and a return on equity of 29.86%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 944 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $122,720.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 260,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,912,970. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.78, for a total transaction of $415,730.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 24,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,876,732.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 944 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $122,720.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 260,869 shares in the company, valued at $33,912,970. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Agilent Technologies Profile

Agilent Technologies, Inc provides application focused solutions to the life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets worldwide. 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; vacuum pumps, and measurement technologies.