Perpetual Ltd Raises Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Perpetual Ltd lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,503 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,503 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $5,576,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 5,236 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $679,000 after buying an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 65.1% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 40,605 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,264,000 after acquiring an additional 16,009 shares in the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 22,797 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 54,963 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,125,000 after purchasing an additional 3,431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 73.6% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 11,272 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,461,000 after purchasing an additional 4,779 shares during the period.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A opened at $152.61 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $136.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.09. The stock has a market cap of $43.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.06. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $124.16 and a one year high of $155.35.

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

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective 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 Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.62.

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.