Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Purchases 143,513 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 535.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 170,293 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 143,513 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV owned 0.06% of Agilent Technologies worth $22,075,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of A. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Agilent Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at $938,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted 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 valued at $4,757,000 after acquiring an additional 29,590 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 84.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 325,695 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $45,281,000 after purchasing an additional 149,159 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,609,420 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $223,758,000 after purchasing an additional 343,175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 4,523 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $283,910.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,497,110. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE A opened at $139.01 on Thursday. The company 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 cap of $40.56 billion, a PE ratio of 32.86, a PEG ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $96.80 and a 1-year high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 25.26% and a net margin of 21.75%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.43 EPS. Research analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on A. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $151.00 price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.60.

Agilent Technologies Company 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.