Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Acquires New Shares in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,011 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Menard Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.6% during the second quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 4,845 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $628,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. McAdam LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 2,531 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,570 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 5,049 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $750,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 1.0% during the third quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 8,243 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,224,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays cut their target price on Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.40.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE A opened at $138.11 on Thursday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $137.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $137.43. The company has a market cap of $39.68 billion, a PE ratio of 31.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 1.07. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.10 and a twelve month high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 21.27%.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In other news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 19.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

About Agilent Technologies

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.