Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Buys 1,715 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 0.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 419,831 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,715 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of Agilent Technologies worth $54,423,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 18.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,884,345 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,348,471,000 after buying an additional 4,605,228 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.7% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,064,660 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,952,832,000 after acquiring an additional 809,149 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 13.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,542,054 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,242,956,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042,926 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 0.7% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,793,189 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $362,081,000 after purchasing an additional 18,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,783,238 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $406,715,000 after purchasing an additional 116,822 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 price target on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 price target (down previously from $152.00) on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $283,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,497,110. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:A opened at $140.09 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $137.87 and a 200 day moving average of $139.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $40.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.12, a P/E/G ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 1.05. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.80 and a 12 month high of $155.35.

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

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.236 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 22.22%.

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.