Erste Asset Management GmbH Buys New Shares in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 113,984 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,920,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 26.6% in the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 11,841 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,723,000 after acquiring an additional 2,491 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 953.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 32,694 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,757,000 after purchasing an additional 29,590 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 45.7% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 13,620 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,982,000 after buying an additional 4,274 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 36.4% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 731 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 54.0% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,583 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $205,000 after buying an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on A shares. Bank of America raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Agilent Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.40.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

NYSE A opened at $137.97 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $137.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $137.15. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.16 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $39.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 1.07.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.40%.

Insider Activity

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,801,595. This trade represents a 19.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.