Quest Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Quest Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 247.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,562 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,113 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 18.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,884,345 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,348,471,000 after buying an additional 4,605,228 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 13.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,542,054 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,242,956,000 after buying an additional 1,042,926 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at $509,904,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,793,189 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $362,081,000 after buying an additional 18,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,783,238 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $406,715,000 after acquiring an additional 116,822 shares during the period. 87.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE A opened at $137.31 on Monday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.80 and a 1 year high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The business’s 50-day moving average is $136.75 and its 200 day moving average is $139.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.06 billion, a PE ratio of 32.46, a PEG ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Wolfe Research downgraded Agilent Technologies from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value 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 approximately $3,497,110. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.