Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Buys New Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise has invested approximately $1.40 million in Agilent Technologies by acquiring nearly 12,000 shares during the 1st quarter of the year.
• Agilent Technologies' stock is currently rated as a "Moderate Buy" by analysts, with a consensus target price of $139.77.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.248 per share, which translates to an annualized yield of 0.84%.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 11,968 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $1,400,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in A. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 13.5% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 36,674 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $4,279,000 after purchasing an additional 4,362 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 73,273 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $9,843,000 after buying an additional 10,128 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 30,827 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,606,000 after buying an additional 2,371 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 29.5% in the 1st quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 13,358 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,563,000 after buying an additional 3,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 322,224 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $43,289,000 after buying an additional 51,144 shares during the last quarter. 87.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,508 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.44, for a total value of $177,099.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 37,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,397,893.12. This represents a 3.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on A. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group reduced 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. Wall Street Zen raised Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 28th. Finally, Leerink Partners upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $139.77.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE A traded up $1.02 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $114.52. The company had a trading volume of 653,505 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,021,158. The company has a market capitalization of $32.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 1.22. The firm's 50 day moving average is $117.08 and its 200 day moving average is $120.47. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $96.43 and a fifty-two week high of $153.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.60.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.63 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.92% and a net margin of 17.59%. The company's revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.22 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st were given a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.44%.

Agilent Technologies Company 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.