Mackenzie Financial Corp Buys 548,344 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Key Points

• Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 141.5% in the first quarter, now holding approximately 935,893 shares valued at $109.48 million.
• The CEO of Agilent Technologies, Padraig McDonnell, sold 1,508 shares recently, reducing his ownership by 3.87%, but still holding shares worth about $4.4 million.
• Agilent Technologies announced a quarterly dividend of $0.248 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.83% and a payout ratio of 24.44%.

Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 141.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 935,893 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 548,344 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned 0.33% of Agilent Technologies worth $109,481,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 640.0% during the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 222 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 286.2% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 251 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $159.00 to $140.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. 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 report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Leerink Partners lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $139.77.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

A traded down $1.78 during trading on Friday, hitting $113.04. The stock had a trading volume of 832,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,023,153. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $116.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.99. The firm has a market cap of $32.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.23. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $96.43 and a one year 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.92% and a net margin of 17.59%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 1st. Agilent Technologies's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In other news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,508 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was 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 directly owned 37,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,397,893.12. This represents a 3.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

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.