Czech National Bank Acquires 2,843 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,299 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 2,843 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $8,369,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of A. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976,905 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $442,011,000 after purchasing an additional 183,716 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 32.3% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 362,945 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $47,049,000 after buying an additional 88,667 shares in the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter worth $14,848,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 29.8% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,978 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,592,000 after buying an additional 7,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 702,631 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $104,327,000 after acquiring an additional 68,670 shares during the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE A opened at $143.46 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $136.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.96. 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.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. Agilent Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. Research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.62.

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.