MML Investors Services LLC Buys 1,337 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,205 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,337 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $6,415,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 114.8% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 189 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the second quarter worth $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 68.3% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 234 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on A. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $151.00 target price on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Barclays dropped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were 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 directly owns 40,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,801,595. This trade represents a 19.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

NYSE:A opened at $140.90 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $136.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $136.57. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $124.16 and a 52 week high of $155.35. The stock has a market cap of $40.48 billion, a PE ratio of 31.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

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

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.40%.

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.