USS Investment Management Ltd Grows Stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

USS Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 107,540 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 94 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $14,452,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 28,456 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,823,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in Agilent Technologies by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 2,357 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 102.4% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,781 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd raised its stake in Agilent Technologies by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 41,503 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,576,000 after purchasing an additional 2,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Agilent Technologies by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 105,304 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,173,000 after purchasing an additional 901 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on A. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $143.00.

Agilent Technologies Price Performance

Shares of A stock opened at $113.48 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $110.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $127.89. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $96.43 and a one year high of $154.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Agilent Technologies had a return on equity of 25.56% and a net margin of 19.27%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agilent Technologies

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total transaction of $232,737.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 21,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,657,456.28. This trade represents a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total transaction of $211,840.74. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 35,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,161,931.02. The trade was a 4.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

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.