Archer Investment Corp Invests $288,000 in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Archer Investment Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,940 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $288,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 953.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 32,694 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,757,000 after buying an additional 29,590 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 26.2% during the 1st quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,770 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,168,000 after acquiring an additional 4,523 shares during the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,355,000. Marshall Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Agilent Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,058,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 18.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,884,345 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,348,471,000 after acquiring an additional 4,605,228 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Agilent Technologies in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $157.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America increased their target price on Agilent Technologies from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Agilent Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.36.

Agilent Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of A stock traded down $2.79 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $127.43. 469,329 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,696,759. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.65, a P/E/G ratio of 5.91 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $138.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $138.08. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $112.06 and a 52-week high of $155.35.

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 return on equity of 25.26% and a net margin of 21.75%. The company had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.43 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Agilent Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a dividend of $0.236 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.50%.

Insider Activity at Agilent Technologies

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

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.