Jennison Associates LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 17.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 439,112 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 65,731 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 0.15% of Agilent Technologies worth $51,367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at $456,963,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 15,648.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 627,247 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $73,375,000 after buying an additional 623,264 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its position in Agilent Technologies by 345.9% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 769,897 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $103,428,000 after buying an additional 597,249 shares during the period. Iron Triangle Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $80,110,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 280.3% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 806,895 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $108,398,000 after purchasing an additional 594,744 shares during the last quarter. 87.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on A. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Agilent Technologies to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Leerink Partners boosted their price objective on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $159.00 to $140.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $139.77.

Insider Activity

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,508 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were 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 owned 37,448 shares in the company, valued at $4,397,893.12. This represents a 3.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

NYSE:A traded up $3.44 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $119.63. 648,282 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,857,070. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $96.43 and a twelve month high of $153.84. The firm has a market cap of $33.98 billion, a PE ratio of 29.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.23. The stock's 50-day moving average is $116.04 and its 200-day moving average is $122.00.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.63 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 17.59% and a return on equity of 25.92%. Agilent Technologies's revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. On average, 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.