Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Has $2.11 Million Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd cut its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 3.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,239 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 593 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $2,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 114.8% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 189 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Rise Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 527.8% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 226 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $151.00 price target on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Agilent Technologies from $147.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective (down previously from $152.00) on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.60.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $137.31 on Monday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $96.80 and a 52 week high of $155.35. The firm has a market cap of $40.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.46, a P/E/G ratio of 6.43 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.78. The business’s fifty day moving average is $136.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.25.

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 net margin of 21.75% and a return on equity of 25.26%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $283,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,118 shares in the company, valued at $3,497,110. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.