Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 19.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,210 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 530 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $431,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in A. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,589,874 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,314,784,000 after purchasing an additional 525,214 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 62.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,287,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $191,193,000 after buying an additional 493,947 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,449,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 48.6% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 957,128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $124,073,000 after acquiring an additional 313,155 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 63.3% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 586,439 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $87,075,000 after acquiring an additional 227,431 shares in the last quarter.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 2.0 %

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $147.57 on Monday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.16 and a 1 year high of $155.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $136.48 and its 200-day moving average is $137.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.09. The company has a market cap of $42.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.39, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 1.06.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 25th. The medical research company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 25.43%. Agilent Technologies’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $157.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup increased their price target on Agilent Technologies to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.62.

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.