Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Acquires 1,273,994 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. $A

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,227,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,273,994 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $1,560,964,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.0% in the second quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,818 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $215,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 2,522 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Burney Co. increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 4.8% during the second quarter. Burney Co. now owns 1,957 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 2.9% during the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 3,688 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Athena Investment Management lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 4.5% in the first quarter. Athena Investment Management now owns 2,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.41% of the company’s stock.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:A opened at $146.90 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $41.65 billion, a PE ratio of 34.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $137.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $123.77. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $96.43 and a 1-year high of $153.84.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The medical research company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.37. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 17.97% and a return on equity of 25.51%. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Agilent Technologies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.560-5.590 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 1.570-1.600 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Rothschild & Co Redburn began coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $165.00 target price on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.62.

Insider Activity

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 12,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $1,873,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 33,448 shares in the company, valued at $5,017,200. The trade was a 27.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.