Prudential PLC Grows Stock Holdings in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Prudential PLC raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 18.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 61,522 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,594 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $7,975,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 2,872 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $388,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 141.0% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 55,157 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,668,000 after purchasing an additional 32,272 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,258 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $587,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $231,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $147.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $151.00 target price on shares of Agilent Technologies in a report on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $165.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Agilent Technologies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 1,958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.00, for a total transaction of $283,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 24,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,497,110. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:A opened at $138.11 on Tuesday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.80 and a 12-month high of $155.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.65, a PEG ratio of 6.36 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $135.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

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

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.