Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Invests $46.50 Million in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 346,133 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $46,500,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned 0.12% of Agilent Technologies at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,663 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $626,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 3,442 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $462,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 2,496 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,118 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $611,000 after buying an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 82,338 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $11,062,000 after buying an additional 2,567 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $159.00 to $140.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $140.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total value of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. This trade represents a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $211,840.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,161,931.02. This trade represents a 4.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 1.3%

A traded down $1.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $111.83. The stock had a trading volume of 4,751,122 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,957,412. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $108.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $126.62. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $31.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.27. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $96.43 and a 1-year high of $153.84.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 26.13%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.22 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is 24.44%.

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.