Empowered Funds LLC Buys 7,111 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 29.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,978 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,111 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $4,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in A. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its stake in Agilent Technologies by 114.8% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 189 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 68.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 234 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on A. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Agilent Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In related news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $283,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 24,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,497,110. This trade represents a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Dominique Grau sold 9,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total value of $1,448,550.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,801,595. This represents a 19.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,995 shares of company stock worth $1,739,510.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Agilent Technologies stock opened at $127.07 on Monday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $112.06 and a 52-week high of $155.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $138.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $138.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.36, a P/E/G ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 1.07.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 21st. The medical research company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.56 billion. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 21.75% and a return on equity of 25.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were issued a dividend of $0.236 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 19.50%.

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.