Swiss National Bank Purchases 57,600 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. $A

Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 863,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 57,600 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $101,843,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of A. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 151,001 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $17,820,000 after purchasing an additional 7,524 shares during the period. Prudential PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 72,015 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $8,498,000 after buying an additional 2,980 shares in the last quarter. Hikari Tsushin Inc. grew its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 252.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hikari Tsushin Inc. now owns 6,403 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $756,000 after buying an additional 4,588 shares during the period. Sierra Legacy Group lifted its position in shares of Agilent Technologies by 63.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sierra Legacy Group now owns 10,780 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,272,000 after acquiring an additional 4,175 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Agilent Technologies by 11.4% during the second quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 43,678 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,144,000 after acquiring an additional 4,481 shares in the last quarter. 87.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Agilent Technologies news, CEO Padraig Mcdonnell sold 911 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.24, for a total value of $130,491.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 32,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,591,987.92. This trade represents a 2.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group upgraded Agilent Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $170.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Agilent Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Agilent Technologies in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Rothschild Redb raised Agilent Technologies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Agilent Technologies from $128.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.62.

Agilent Technologies Stock Up 4.4%

A opened at $151.49 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $139.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $125.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $96.43 and a twelve month high of $153.84. The stock has a market cap of $42.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.56, a PEG ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 1.29.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 27th. The medical research company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 17.97% and a return on equity of 25.51%. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.32 EPS. Agilent Technologies’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Agilent Technologies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.560-5.590 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 1.570-1.600 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 6th will be given a dividend of $0.255 per share. This is an increase from Agilent Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.02 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 6th. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.94%.

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.