Agilent Technologies, Inc. $A Stake Increased by M&G PLC

M&G PLC increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 255.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 893,121 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 641,698 shares during the period. M&G PLC owned about 0.31% of Agilent Technologies worth $105,388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of A. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the second quarter worth $33,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in Agilent Technologies during the first quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the first quarter worth about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.41% of the company’s stock.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 2.1%

A stock opened at $149.39 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $136.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $123.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 1.71. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.43 and a fifty-two week high of $153.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.07, a P/E/G ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 1.29.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The medical research company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.37. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.51% and a net margin of 17.97%.The company had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Agilent Technologies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.560-5.590 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 1.570-1.600 EPS. Analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 23.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.62.

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.