Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 0.5%, owning approximately 1.7 million shares valued at nearly $200 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Agilent Technologies reported $1.31 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding consensus estimates and reflecting a year-over-year revenue growth of 6%.
• Analysts have set a consensus price target of $139.77 for Agilent Technologies, with ratings of "Moderate Buy" driven by various price adjustments from multiple research firms.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,708,940 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,151 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.60% of Agilent Technologies worth $199,912,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in A. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. acquired a new position in Agilent Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at $6,508,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,408,626 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,908,141,000 after buying an additional 240,965 shares in the last quarter. Leisure Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 1st quarter worth $820,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 593.5% during the 1st quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,726 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,360,000 after buying an additional 24,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 1st quarter worth $47,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 28th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays increased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $159.00 to $140.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $139.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

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

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 2.8%

NYSE A traded up $3.17 on Tuesday, hitting $117.30. The stock had a trading volume of 917,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,684,187. The business's fifty day moving average price is $117.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $118.94. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $96.43 and a 52-week high of $153.84. The stock has a market cap of $33.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 1st were given a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.