XTX Topco Ltd Increases Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

XTX Topco Ltd raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 242.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,272 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 15,061 shares during the quarter. XTX Topco Ltd’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $2,757,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 1st quarter worth approximately $938,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 953.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 32,694 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,757,000 after purchasing an additional 29,590 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 84.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 325,695 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $45,281,000 after buying an additional 149,159 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,609,420 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $223,758,000 after buying an additional 343,175 shares during the period. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 26.2% during the 1st quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,770 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,168,000 after buying an additional 4,523 shares in the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on A shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research lowered Agilent Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $147.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 target price (down from $152.00) on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, June 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.60.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:A opened at $139.01 on Thursday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $96.80 and a one year high of $155.35. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $137.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $139.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.37.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.06. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.26% and a net margin of 21.75%. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.43 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $283,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,118 shares in the company, valued at $3,497,110. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.