Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,631 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 885 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,028 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $150,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 14.7% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 11,985 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,744,000 after purchasing an additional 1,532 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 1st quarter valued at about $261,000. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 25,494 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,709,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 2,259 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $1,448,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at $5,801,595. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $283,910.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,497,110. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $1,448,550.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,801,595. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,953 shares of company stock valued at $2,013,630 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $151.00 price target on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.36.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE A opened at $138.83 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $40.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.96 and a beta of 1.05. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.80 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.78.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.06. The company 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%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.43 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.