Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Holdings Lifted by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 2.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,341,870 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 128,131 shares during the period. Agilent Technologies makes up approximately 0.7% of Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned 1.87% of Agilent Technologies worth $624,888,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of A. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,663 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $626,000 after buying an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 43,862 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,892,000 after purchasing an additional 3,915 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 45,340 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,091,000 after purchasing an additional 5,735 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 1,643 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 42,381 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,693,000 after buying an additional 396 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on A shares. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $159.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $139.77.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Agilent Technologies stock traded down $1.61 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $114.75. 216,042 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,860,253. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 1.23. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $96.43 and a 12 month high of $153.84. The business’s 50-day moving average is $115.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.30.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 25.92%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be paid a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,508 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total value of $177,099.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 37,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,397,893.12. The trade was a 3.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Agilent Technologies Company 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.