NFJ Investment Group LLC Has $21.76 Million Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

NFJ Investment Group LLC lowered its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 37.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 146,540 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 87,884 shares during the quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC owned about 0.05% of Agilent Technologies worth $21,758,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 114.8% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 189 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in Agilent Technologies in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 68.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 234 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $1,448,550.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at $5,801,595. This represents a 19.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of A traded down $1.97 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $137.61. 161,620 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,721,109. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.58. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $124.16 and a 52 week high of $155.35. The company has a market cap of $39.54 billion, a PE ratio of 31.58, a P/E/G ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $137.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.15.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 21.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of 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 price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of 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. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $151.00 price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.40.

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.