Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) is LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s 8th Largest Position

LGT Capital Partners LTD. boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A – Get Rating) by 9.9% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 867,480 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 77,990 shares during the quarter. Agilent Technologies accounts for approximately 3.3% of LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $114,794,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Guinness Asset Management LTD raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 4,616 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $611,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the last quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. raised its position in Agilent Technologies by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. now owns 3,852 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $509,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. NuWave Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at $169,000. DNB Asset Management AS grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 180,851 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $23,932,000 after purchasing an additional 6,012 shares during the period. Finally, Fieldpoint Private Securities LLC grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 34.0% in the 1st quarter. Fieldpoint Private Securities LLC now owns 6,484 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $858,000 after purchasing an additional 1,646 shares during the period.

In other Agilent Technologies news, VP Jacob Thaysen sold 5,879 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.43, for a total value of $749,160.97. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 88,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,307,755.91. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on A shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $169.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 23rd. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $170.00 to $155.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $159.91.

Shares of NYSE A opened at $113.80 on Thursday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $112.52 and a 52 week high of $179.57. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $121.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $134.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market cap of $33.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.05.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 24th. The medical research company reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.01. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 27.42% and a net margin of 19.35%. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 4.9 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 5th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 1st. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.24%.

About Agilent Technologies (Get Rating)

Agilent Technologies, Inc provides application focused solutions to the life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets worldwide. 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; vacuum pumps, and measurement technologies.

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