113,984 Shares in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) Acquired by Erste Asset Management GmbH

Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 113,984 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,920,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 26.6% during the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 11,841 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,723,000 after purchasing an additional 2,491 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 953.3% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 45.7% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 13,620 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,982,000 after buying an additional 4,274 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 36.4% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 731 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Agilent Technologies by 54.0% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,583 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $205,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Bank of America upped their price target on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $143.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,801,595. This represents a 19.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:A opened at $137.97 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $39.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.21, a PEG ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $137.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.15. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.16 and a 12 month high of $155.35.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. This is a positive change from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Agilent Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 22.40%.

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.