Advisors Asset Management Inc. Buys 457 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 5.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,372 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on A. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $151.00 price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.36.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:A opened at $134.50 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $38.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.90, a P/E/G ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.10 and a 1-year high of $155.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $137.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.37.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 19.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 40,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,801,595. This trade represents a 19.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

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.