Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Increases Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,088,644 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 99,080 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.37% of Agilent Technologies worth $141,131,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.7% during the 2nd 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. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 188.5% in the second quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $622,000 after purchasing an additional 3,133 shares during the period. Lyell Wealth Management LP grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 1.9% in the second quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 7,845 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,017,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 1.7% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 771,162 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $99,966,000 after purchasing an additional 13,248 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 55.8% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 45,273 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,869,000 after purchasing an additional 16,207 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 company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was 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 approximately $3,497,110. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on A. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 target price (down from $152.00) on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $147.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.60.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

A opened at $140.09 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $137.87 and a 200 day moving average of $139.21. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.80 and a 52-week high of $155.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.78 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 PEG ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 1.05.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.06. The business 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

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

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.