Headlands Technologies LLC Acquires 3,855 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Key Points

• Headlands Technologies LLC increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 88.6%, acquiring an additional 3,855 shares to reach a total of 8,208 shares valued at approximately $960,000.
• Agilent Technologies reported a 6.0% revenue increase year-over-year, with earnings per share of $1.31 for the last quarter, surpassing expectations by $0.05.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.248 per share, yielding 0.9% and maintaining a payout ratio of 24.44%.

Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 88.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,208 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,855 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC's holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $960,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of A. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,408,626 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,908,141,000 after buying an additional 240,965 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 2.5% in the 1st 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 buying an additional 128,131 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 38,348 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 457,713 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,231,981 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $434,184,000 after buying an additional 283,445 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.41% of the company's stock.

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 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,397,893.12. This represents a 3.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. 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 report on Thursday, May 29th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $139.77.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of A stock traded up $0.71 on Friday, reaching $114.69. 1,129,747 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,744,167. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.43 and a 1 year high of $153.84. The company has a market cap of $32.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.22. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $117.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $119.43.

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. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 25.92%. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.9%. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio is 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.