Park Avenue Securities LLC Raises Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 20.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,973 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 2,332 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,877,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in 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 worth $442,011,000 after buying an additional 183,716 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 32.3% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 362,945 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $47,049,000 after purchasing an additional 88,667 shares in the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $14,848,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position 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 valued at $4,592,000 after purchasing an additional 7,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.5% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 59,456 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,828,000 after purchasing an additional 3,612 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

NYSE A opened at $147.57 on Friday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $124.16 and a 12-month high of $155.35. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $136.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $137.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.06.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 25.43%. The business had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 22.40%.

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.