OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Buys Shares of 264,017 Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 264,017 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $36,706,000. Agilent Technologies comprises about 1.3% of OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd owned 0.09% of Agilent Technologies at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Carmel Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,709 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $933,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Kepos Capital LP boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 3.5% in the third quarter. Kepos Capital LP now owns 2,775 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 41.1% in the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 326 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 51.1% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 284 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 8.1% in the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,336 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $161,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on A shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $132.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $67.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $141.29.

Agilent Technologies Trading Up 0.2 %

A stock traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $132.73. 1,303,352 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,324,135. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.04 and a current ratio of 2.68. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $96.80 and a one year high of $151.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.90 billion, a PE ratio of 31.60, a PEG ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $141.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $129.79.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The medical research company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.07. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 18.35% and a return on equity of 27.09%. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.51 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.236 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 1st. Agilent Technologies's payout ratio is presently 22.38%.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In other news, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total value of $417,095.58. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,997 shares in the company, valued at $1,474,957.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Agilent Technologies news, SVP Philip Binns sold 2,827 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.54, for a total transaction of $417,095.58. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,474,957.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael R. Mcmullen sold 52,297 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $7,844,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 253,909 shares in the company, valued at $38,086,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 61,610 shares of company stock worth $9,220,333.

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.