Natixis Advisors LLC Buys 15,435 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 113,991 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,435 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $16,926,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 231.5% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 494 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 33.0% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 22,326 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,249,000 after acquiring an additional 5,538 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 102.9% during the first quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,174 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $462,000 after acquiring an additional 1,610 shares in the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.0% during the first quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 6,220 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $905,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 54,782 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,971,000 after purchasing an additional 11,646 shares in the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

A opened at $125.70 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $138.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $137.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.12 billion, a PE ratio of 26.08, a P/E/G ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $112.39 and a 52 week high of $155.35. 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 data 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 business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.26% and a net margin of 21.75%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.43 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a dividend of $0.236 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 19.50%.

Insider Activity

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,801,595. The trade was a 19.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $283,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 24,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,497,110. This trade represents a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,995 shares of company stock valued at $1,739,510 in the last ninety days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Agilent Technologies in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $151.00 price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Bank of America increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.36.

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.