Aspen Capital Management LLC Buys New Shares in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Aspen Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,206 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Mystic Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 9.3% in the first quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,766 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.5% in the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,341,870 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $624,888,000 after acquiring an additional 128,131 shares in the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 32,769.2% in the first quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 4,273 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $500,000 after buying an additional 4,260 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 17.6% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 439,112 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $51,367,000 after buying an additional 65,731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the first quarter worth about $324,000. 87.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,508 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total transaction of $177,099.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 37,448 shares in the company, valued at $4,397,893.12. This represents a 3.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 2.1%

A stock opened at $113.97 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $32.37 billion, a PE ratio of 28.14, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.09. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $116.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.08. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $96.43 and a one year high of $153.84.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. The firm 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 25.92%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 1st. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is currently 24.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Leerink Partners increased their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $139.77.

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.

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