Agilent Technologies, Inc. $A Stock: Ethic Inc. Grows Stake

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. increased its Agilent stake by 102.7% in the third quarter, ending the period with 43,082 shares valued at about $7.4 million. Several other large institutional investors also raised their holdings.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus: 18 rate the stock Buy and four Hold, with an average price target of $181.45.
• Agilent reported quarterly EPS of $1.62, beating the $1.49 estimate, while revenue rose 8.1% year over year to $1.88 billion.

Ethic Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 102.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,082 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 21,823 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $7,424,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,854,230 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,710,658,000 after acquiring an additional 89,598 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,454,686 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $990,206,000 after purchasing an additional 198,253 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 17.1% during the 2nd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,008,634 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $930,957,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024,516 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 87.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,233,964 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $695,227,000 after purchasing an additional 2,440,360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 9.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,108,764 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $240,336,000 after purchasing an additional 185,223 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Evercore increased their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $148.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $181.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mikael Dolsten sold 634 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.38, for a total value of $95,974.92. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,924 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $745,395.12. This represents a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 3.0%

NYSE:A opened at $180.09 on Tuesday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $108.35 and a 12 month high of $182.99. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $166.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market capitalization of $50.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.24, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.24.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The medical research company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.13. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Agilent Technologies has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 1.710-1.740 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 6.180-6.210 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 6.20 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th were paid a dividend of $0.2550 per share. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 6th. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is presently 20.08%.

About Agilent Technologies

Agilent Technologies develops and supplies instruments, software, services and consumables used in laboratories and manufacturing operations. Its offerings support applications in life sciences, diagnostics, chemical analysis, food safety, environmental testing and pharmaceutical research.

The company serves customers worldwide, including pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, clinical and academic laboratories, and organizations in the chemical, energy and food industries. Its services include laboratory equipment maintenance, technical support and related workflow solutions.

Agilent became an independent company in 1999 through a spin-off from Hewlett-Packard.

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