Cetera Investment Advisers Grows Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,485 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 7,791 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $5,248,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 114.8% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 189 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Rise Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 527.8% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $274,120.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 26,076 shares in the company, valued at $3,650,640. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $1,448,550.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at $5,801,595. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $274,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 26,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,650,640. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,953 shares of company stock worth $2,013,630. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

NYSE:A opened at $144.61 on Wednesday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.80 and a 52-week high of $155.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $140.25 and a 200 day moving average of $138.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.19, a P/E/G ratio of 6.48 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $143.64.

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.