GAMMA Investing LLC Grows Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 102.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,983 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,016 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 38,137 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,944,000 after purchasing an additional 3,899 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 24.4% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 80,830 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,298,000 after acquiring an additional 15,872 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 84,958 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $11,013,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 11,405 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,478,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisor OS LLC boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 16.1% in the 2nd quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 5,584 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $724,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of Agilent Technologies stock opened at $135.69 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.58. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $124.16 and a one year high of $155.35. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $135.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $136.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.07.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 25.43%. The firm’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. Analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.248 dividend. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays lowered 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. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company 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.