LPL Financial LLC Purchases 4,468 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 121,147 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,468 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $14,172,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,341,870 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $624,888,000 after purchasing an additional 128,131 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,436,700 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $596,026,000 after purchasing an additional 38,348 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,192,790 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $563,259,000 after purchasing an additional 457,713 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,231,981 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $434,184,000 after purchasing an additional 283,445 shares during the period. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,931,794 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $342,961,000 after purchasing an additional 102,365 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $159.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $139.77.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE:A opened at $113.32 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.60. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.43 and a 1 year high of $153.84. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $117.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $120.16. The company has a market cap of $32.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.98, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.22.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.92% and a net margin of 17.59%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st were given a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 24.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total transaction of $177,099.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 37,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,397,893.12. The trade was a 3.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

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.