Agilent Technologies, Inc. $A Shares Bought by Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.

Key Points

• Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 14.1% in the first quarter, acquiring 47,636 shares for a total of 385,655 shares.
• Agilent Technologies' CEO, Padraig Mcdonnell, sold 1,508 shares at an average price of $117.44, reducing his ownership by 3.87%.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed forecasts for Agilent Technologies, with price targets ranging from $125 to $159, and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) by 14.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 385,655 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 47,636 shares during the quarter. Agilent Technologies accounts for about 1.2% of Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. owned approximately 0.14% of Agilent Technologies worth $45,114,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of A. Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 286.2% during the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 251 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 640.0% in the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 222 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.41% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,508 shares of Agilent Technologies 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 of the company's stock, valued at $4,397,893.12. The trade was a 3.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A has been the subject of several recent research reports. Leerink Partners increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. UBS Group lowered 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 report on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 28th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $139.77.

Agilent Technologies Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of A stock traded down $1.1390 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $118.9710. 1,431,849 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,957,950. 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 quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.09. The company has a market capitalization of $33.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.22. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $117.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $117.86.

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 for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.22 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Agilent Technologies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.540-5.610 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 1.350-1.370 EPS. Research analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st were issued a $0.248 dividend. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 1st. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is currently 24.44%.

Agilent Technologies 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.