Assetmark Inc. Buys 15,063 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Key Points

• Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 11.1%, acquiring an additional 15,063 shares and bringing its total holdings to 150,171 shares, valued at approximately $17.57 million.
• Agilent Technologies recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.248 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $0.99 and a yield of 0.83%.
• Wall Street analysts regard Agilent Technologies with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $139.77, reflecting positive growth expectations.

Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 11.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 150,171 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,063 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Agilent Technologies worth $17,567,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in A. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,306,805 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,250,276,000 after acquiring an additional 59,781 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,002,671 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $938,291,000 after buying an additional 53,992 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,341,870 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $624,888,000 after buying an additional 128,131 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,436,700 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $596,026,000 after purchasing an additional 38,348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,192,790 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $563,259,000 after purchasing an additional 457,713 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on A. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $159.00 to $140.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $139.77.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

A traded down $0.95 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $118.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 105,862 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,023,517. The stock has a market cap of $33.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.35, a PEG ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 1.23. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $96.43 and a twelve month high of $153.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $116.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $121.20.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.05. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.92% and a net margin of 17.59%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st were paid a $0.248 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio is 24.44%.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,508 shares of Agilent Technologies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total transaction of $177,099.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 37,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,397,893.12. The trade was a 3.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

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.