Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Acquires 32,012 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 56.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 88,695 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,012 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $11,922,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in A. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 8.2% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,667,616 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $396,088,000 after acquiring an additional 203,234 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 95.9% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 523 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at about $280,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies in the third quarter valued at about $499,000.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 3.6 %

A opened at $121.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The company has a market cap of $34.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $138.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $138.00. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $117.17 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 22.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,911 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $286,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,947,800. This represents a 4.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on A shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $146.15.

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.