Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Has $98.56 Million Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 663,767 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,703 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $98,556,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 953.3% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 32,694 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,757,000 after acquiring an additional 29,590 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 26.2% during the 1st quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,770 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,168,000 after purchasing an additional 4,523 shares during the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,355,000. Marshall Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Agilent Technologies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,058,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 18.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,884,345 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,348,471,000 after purchasing an additional 4,605,228 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on A shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $151.00 target price on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.36.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $283,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 24,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,497,110. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $1,448,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at $5,801,595. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $283,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 24,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,497,110. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,995 shares of company stock worth $1,739,510.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 0.5 %

A opened at $134.35 on Thursday. 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 company has a market cap of $38.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.88 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $139.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $138.16. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $109.46 and a fifty-two week high of $155.35.

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

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a dividend of $0.236 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.50%.

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.