Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,931 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $6,820,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 114.8% in 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 acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 68.3% in 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 in the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of A opened at $130.22 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $139.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $37.42 billion, a PE ratio of 27.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.88 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $111.33 and a 52-week high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.06. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 21.75% and a return on equity of 25.26%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.43 earnings per share. Agilent Technologies’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $283,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,118 shares in the company, valued at $3,497,110. This trade represents a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,995 shares of company stock valued at $1,739,510 over the last quarter. 0.33% of the stock is 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.