Handelsbanken Fonder AB Purchases 10,636 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 143,215 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,636 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned approximately 0.05% of Agilent Technologies worth $19,240,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in A. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new position in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $2,726,000. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI bought a new position in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $271,000. McAdam LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $12,961,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 173.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 27,113 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,026,000 after purchasing an additional 17,203 shares during the period. 87.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays upgraded Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Citigroup increased their price target on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.38.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

A stock opened at $135.33 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $140.97 and its 200-day moving average is $139.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $38.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.16 and a twelve month high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.40%.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares in the company, valued at $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.