Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Makes New $410,000 Investment in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,760 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $410,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of A. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 5.7% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 15,064,660 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,952,832,000 after acquiring an additional 809,149 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 62.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,287,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $191,193,000 after purchasing an additional 493,947 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 48.6% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 957,128 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $124,073,000 after buying an additional 313,155 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 227,431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,667,616 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $396,088,000 after acquiring an additional 203,234 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE A opened at $139.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.58, a PEG ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50 day moving average is $137.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $137.15. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $124.16 and a 12-month high of $155.35. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 price target for the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 40,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,801,595. The trade was a 19.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available 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.