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

Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 9.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,101 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,116 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,698,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 18.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,884,345 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,348,471,000 after buying an additional 4,605,228 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at about $509,904,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,246,489 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,841,659,000 after purchasing an additional 2,170,219 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 262.1% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,292,929 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $318,786,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659,768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 13.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,542,054 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,242,956,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042,926 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $254,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 25,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,274,050. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $254,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 25,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,274,050. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Dominique Grau sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.28, for a total value of $1,999,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 49,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,595,494.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,916 shares of company stock valued at $2,527,860 in the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on A. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $126.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Agilent Technologies from $163.00 to $151.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $153.00 target price on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.06.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE A traded down $2.27 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $133.99. 1,553,900 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,783,342. The company has a market capitalization of $39.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.21, a P/E/G ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.64 and a current ratio of 2.15. The business’s 50 day moving average is $132.76 and its 200-day moving average is $138.05. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.80 and a 1 year high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The medical research company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.03. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.84% and a return on equity of 26.25%. The business had revenue of $1.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.27 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 2nd were given a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 2nd. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.22%.

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.