S Bank Fund Management Ltd Takes $345,000 Position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Key Points

• S Bank Fund Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the first quarter, purchasing 2,949 shares valued at approximately $345,000.
• Agilent Technologies reported $1.31 EPS for the recent quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.26, and witnessed a 6.0% year-over-year increase in revenue.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.248 per share, leading to an annualized dividend of $0.99 and a yield of 0.8%.

S Bank Fund Management Ltd bought a new position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,949 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $345,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in A. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,449 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $403,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 3,688 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 873 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,406 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,784 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $560,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,508 shares of Agilent Technologies 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 37,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on A. UBS Group cut their price target on Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Agilent Technologies from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Agilent Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $139.77.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A stock traded up $0.43 on Friday, reaching $119.30. The stock had a trading volume of 1,238,463 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,437,926. The stock has a market cap of $33.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.22. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.43 and a 1 year 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 50 day simple moving average of $117.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $118.31.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion for 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%. Agilent Technologies's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 was Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $0.99 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is 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.